03.01.2011                     27.Tevet, 5771

Altstadt Jerusalem:

Old City Ottoman barracks reinvented as cultural center

The impressive structure contains artifacts from nearly every period in Jerusalem's history.

Over the past 40 years, the Ottoman-built mid-19th-century Kishle compound in the Old City of Jerusalem has been closed to visitors.
The impressive 450-meter arched structure, which includes a former prison, contains artifacts from nearly every period in Jerusalem's history, from Herod to the Crusaders to the Jordanians. Soon it will also feature something a bit more modern, though no less indicative of the ancient city's global sway: a Swedish string quartet playing a "visual concert" written by an American composer who combined the melodies with recorded, spoken voices….