The Cardo was originally a 22m-wide colonnaded avenue flanked by roofed arcades, the main artery of Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem. Following excavations in 1975, a southern swath of the broad avenue, 2.5m below present street level, was reconstructed, while another section has been reshaped into an arcade full of art boutiques.
At one time, the Cardo would have run the whole breadth of the city, up to what’s now Damascus Gate, but in its present form, it starts just south of David St, the tourist souq, serving as the main entry into the Jewish Quarter from the Muslim and Christian areas. There are wells that allow you to see down to the levels beneath the street, where there are strata of a wall from the days of the First and Second Temples.
