Rockefeller Museum

East Jerusalem

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The Rockefeller Museum doesn't ride high on must-see lists for Jerusalem, but it's calm, uncrowded and only a short walk from Herod's Gate. The atmosphere is as enjoyable as the contents; make for the Cloisters, where Roman-era antiquities are arranged around a gushing water feature. Other highlights include 9th-century mosaics, Roman ossuary vessels and Byzantine-era blocks featuring early Christian inscriptions.

The distinctive castle-like building was designed by British architect Austen St Barbe Harrison and owes its existence to a gift of US$2 million from the Rockefeller family in 1927.

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