Garden of Gethsemane

The name “Gethsemane” comes from the Hebrew term for “oil press,” and the knotted trunks of the biggest olive trees here may be over 1,000 years old, with railings to protect them from pilgrims and souvenir hunters. A walking tour of the Mount of Olives is a great way to put the site in context, but many Jerusalem day trips and Christian Jerusalem tours will at least stop by for a photo. Tel Aviv is a popular home base for day trips to Jerusalem, many of which also visit other Biblical sites such as Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Galilee.

• If you have time, consider visiting the Mount of Olives first to enjoy sweeping views across the Old City—then, walk down the path to Gethsemane Garden.

• There’s no charge to visit the garden.

• Both the garden and the church are accessible with wheelchairs and strollers.

• Work has been done to make the Old City’s steep, narrow, often cobbled streets more wheelchair-friendly: download the Accessible JLM app to plan routes.

The Garden of Gethsemane sits below the Mount of Olives, a stone’s throw from the Lion’s Gate and an easy walk from most Old City attractions. Catch bus number 1 or 3 from Jerusalem Central Bus Station (next to Jerusalem Yitzhak-Navon, the main train station) and get off before the turn for Derech Haofel, just after Lion’s Gate Street.

The garden is open seven days a week, with a lengthy lunch break every day and shorter hours on Thursday and Sunday. The church holds two Sunday masses: one early in the morning, and one mid-afternoon.

Jerusalem is a holy city for all three Abrahamic religions, but Christians of all stripes flock here to see the place where they believe Jesus died and rose from the dead. Besides the Garden of Gethsemane, key sights include the Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa), where he carried his cross, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where his body rested.