Beyond the holy sites, Jerusalem holds a world-class museum collection, a century-old art academy, Bauhaus-in-limestone architecture and a young gallery scene wedged between religious quarters. Three days of galleries, concert halls and craft studios.
Israel's flagship museum on a Givat Ram hilltop: Alfred Mansfeld's 1965 modernist pavilions, the Shrine of the Book (Kiesler & Bartos, 1965) holding Dead Sea Scrolls, and a fine European wing with Rembrandt and Van Gogh. Open Sun-Thu 10:00-17:00.
Founded 1906 by Boris Schatz, Israel's oldest art school and the birthplace of the 'Bezalel style' fusing Jugendstil with Persian and Syrian ornament. Student galleries and the graduate exhibition halls are open to visitors on weekdays; free entry.
A quiet Talbiya gem: Mamluk metalwork, Persian miniatures, Iznik ceramics and the Sir David Salomons collection of Breguet clocks — the subject of a legendary 1983 heist. Roughly ₪50 entry, closed Saturdays.
The 1930s German-Jewish quarter where Bauhaus met Jerusalem stone: Mendelsohn's Schocken Library on Balfour Street (1936) and Villa Schocken, plus Richard Kauffmann's garden-suburb street plan of curving Ramban and Alfasi.
Moshe Safdie's 2005 prism cuts 180 metres through Mount Herzl, ending on a cantilevered balcony over the Jerusalem Forest. The Hall of Names, Art Museum and Children's Memorial (Moshe Safdie, mirrored candles) are part of the complex. Free entry.
A bookshop-café hidden in a 19th-century Nahalat Shiva courtyard, named for an Agnon novel and running Hebrew and English literary evenings since 1994. Amos Oz and David Grossman have both read here; the shakshuka is the standing order.
The city's main performing-arts complex on Chopin Street, home stage of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and host to the Israeli Opera on tour. Four halls including the 950-seat Sherover; tickets typically ₪120-₪280.
Founded 1973 by Isaac Stern and Teddy Kollek in the restored 1860 Montefiore almshouses, this masterclass hall hosts free and low-cost recitals by young Israeli musicians, with the Old City walls framed in the windows behind the stage.
Three families brought to Jerusalem in 1919 to retile the Dome of the Rock founded the city's ceramic tradition. Marie Balian's studio on Nablus Road and the Karakashian workshop still hand-paint every tile; small pieces from ₪60.
After the produce stalls shutter, some 30 painted steel shutters reveal Solomon Souza's portrait murals of Israeli figures, and the alleys turn into bars. Azura's Iraqi-Jerusalem stews and Hatzot's meorav Yerushalmi anchor the food.
A 1887 leper hospital by Conrad Schick, converted in 2013 into Jerusalem's design hub: rotating exhibitions, artist studios, the Jerusalem Design Week venue and a stone-vaulted café in the old ward. Exhibition entry usually ₪25-₪40.
Perched on the Hinnom Valley slope facing Mount Zion, home of the Jerusalem Film Festival since 1984 and an archive of over 30,000 titles. Nightly repertory screenings, a terrace bar and one of the best Old City wall views in town.