Underground Jerusalem: The Pilgrims’ Road from the Second Temple era opens in the city

In Jerusalem, one of the longest-running archaeological projects of recent decades has been completed. After nearly twenty years of research, the Pilgrims’ Road — a stepped street about two thousand years old, directly connected to the religious and urban life of the Second Temple era — is opening for public access.

This is a route approximately 600 meters long, connecting the Pool of Siloam in the southern part of the ancient city with the Temple Mount. Today, a significant portion of this road runs underground — beneath the residential quarters of the Silwan neighborhood. To preserve the modern buildings, the route is reinforced with special engineering structures made of concrete and metal.

According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the construction of the road took place in the first decades of our era, during the Roman rule and the governorship of Pontius Pilate. The original width of the street reached eight meters, and the pavement consisted of massive Herodian stone slabs, laid with high precision and designed for heavy pedestrian traffic.

As noted by NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency, this road was not just an element of urban infrastructure but a key axis of religious Jerusalem. It was along this road that hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims ascended to the Temple during Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot, undergoing a path of purification — from the water source to the center of spiritual life.

The high degree of preservation of the stone pavement is explained by a tragic turn of history. After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, the road ceased to be used, was covered with debris and layers of soil, and was effectively preserved for almost two thousand years.

During excavations along the route, archaeologists discovered remnants of shops that served pilgrims, as well as elements of public and cult infrastructure. Among the key finds is a small mikveh, a ritual purification pool used before ascending to the Temple.

A separate point of interest is a stone podium found by the road. Researchers suggest that it was used as a platform for official announcements, religious ceremonies, or public readings of Torah scrolls, highlighting the public significance of this space.

Currently, visitors can walk along the restored route from the ancient Pool of Siloam to the Jerusalem Archaeological Park at the Western Wall. Only part of the original width of the street has been brought to the surface, but even this allows one to feel the scale and logic of the ancient city.

The opening of the Pilgrims’ Road restores the lost spatial connection between the key sanctuaries of Jerusalem. For the first time in two thousand years, this path has become accessible again — not as a diagram or reconstruction, but as a real space that can be walked with one’s own steps.