What Jerusalem looked like in the last days of Turkish rule

Over the thousand-year history of Jerusalem, its rulers and their subjects have changed countless times - ancient pagans, biblical Israelites, Byzantine Christians, Ottoman Muslims ...

The Ottoman Turks captured the city in 1517. Jerusalem was swallowed up by an empire whose borders covered vast expanses from North Africa to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. By order of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538, walls were erected around the perimeter of the city, and what was behind them is now called the Old City and is divided into Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian quarters.

These photographs show Jerusalem during the last years of Ottoman rule. The city at that time was called the Jerusalem Mutasarrifat and was an administrative region, part of the border region called Palestine. During this period, due to several waves of immigration, the city's population was mostly Jewish.

In 1917, four centuries after the beginning of Ottoman rule, the city and the surrounding area were captured by British troops and the British Mandate was established in Palestine.

The period of the British Mandate lasted until 1948, when tense Arab and Jewish nationalist relations led to civil war, the Arab-Israeli War of 1947-1949, and the creation of the Jewish State of Israel.

(Total 20 photos)

Source: mashable.com

1900

1915 The Catholic Bishop arrived at the Christmas service.

1915 Greek Orthodox priest.

1915 Greek Orthodox procession.

1918 A woman looks down on Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

1915 Orthodox foot washing ceremony.

1915 Greek Orthodox Christians gather at the tomb of the Virgin Mary.

1915 Russian pilgrims in the Kidron Valley.

1915 Church of the Holy Sepulcher.