A different view of Jerusalem: The city under ground

Eshkolot project, who organised the festival, note the 'invisible matrix' underneath the holy city, which has countless caverns,, tunnels, pipelines, crypts and burial places

A unique educational festival was held in Jerusalem last week and was focused on exploring the life of the City under ground.

The festival organisers, “Eshkolot” Project, are Moscow-based educational programmers who hold events for Russian-speaking Jews in different cities relevant to Jewish history, – Venice, Mainz, Odessa and Jerusalem.

This time, with the support from Genesis Philanthropy Group, the festival explored diverse aspects of the underground Jerusalem, from physical to metaphysical.

In building the programme Eshkolot took note of the “invisible matrix” of the underground city: countless caverns, passages, tunnels, water pipelines, crypts and burial places and their numerous reflections in history, literature, art and religion. Jerusalem is not only a material reality providing a key to understanding the history and geography of the place, but also a vast repository of myths and symbolic narratives, including «underground» social and artistic movements.

Ilia Salita, Genesis Philanthropy Group CEO and President said: “Knowledge and education has always been an essential value for Jewish people all over the world. Eshkolot festivals master the art of exploring hidden meanings and interpreting the things we read, see and live through, as an integral part of our Jewish heritage and meaningful Jewish experiences for the younger generations.”.