Walking the Jerusalem Circuit: In the Footsteps of Pilgrims Before the Crusades

Walking the Jerusalem Circuit revives a former Christian practice: the pre-Crusader pilgrim circuit of Jerusalem. Approximately four kilometers (2.5 miles) long, the Circuit connected the principal Christian sites in a logical walking order that could be done in less than a day. Bringing together the New Testament past and early medieval Jerusalem, Walking the Jerusalem Circuit offers an original discussion of the sources, before resourcing the walk with information on the sites, suggestions for engaging the stations, thoughts for reflection, scripture readings, and excerpts from pilgrimage texts. With book in hand, walk in the footsteps of those who walked in the footsteps of Jesus following the route that Christian pilgrims took through the Holy City centuries ago. Along with the places of Jesus and the early Church, pilgrims were interested in the Jerusalem of their day, seeking God's presence in the contemporary city. Walking the Jerusalem Circuit invites one to prayerfully observe the city today: its people and places, struggles, and aspirations. The modern iteration of the Circuit offers a fresh, if ancient, way of engaging familiar places and well-known biblical events, providing a unique experience for reflecting upon Christian Jerusalem, past and present.