Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City

Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City

Acclaimed historian Simon Sebag Montefiore explores the rise and fall and rise again of Jerusalem, one of the world’s oldest cities. In this compelling documentary, the history of this sacred and peerlessly beautiful place in Israel is revealed. He documents how this unique city ca me into being and explains why it became so important to the
Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions.

Watch Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City and more acclaimed documentaries on BBC Select today. Restrictions apply*.

Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City on BBC Select

Episode 1: Wellspring of Holiness
How Jerusalem came into being and became so important to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and important to Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. In this fascinating history documentary, Simon Sebag Montefiore delves into the past to explore how this unique city in Israel came into being. He goes on a journey to trace the rise of the city as a holy place and discusses the evidence for it becoming a Jewish city under King David.

Episode 2: Invasion, Invasion, Invasion
How the impact of a new faith, Islam, changed the city of Jerusalem and its residents.

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore discovers the impact of a new faith, Islam, on Jerusalem. In this intriguing history documentary, he explores Muhammad’s relationship with Jerusalem, the construction of one of Islam’s holiest shrines, the Dome of the Rock, and the crusaders’ attempts to win it back for Christianity. He also brings to life lesser-known characters, whose impact still resonates.

Episode 3: Judgement Day
How Jerusalem ultimately became the site of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

How did Jerusalem rise from a ruin after the crusades to be rebuilt as a world center of Islamic pilgrimage? In this engrossing history documentary, Simon Sebag Montefiore explains how Jerusalem became the object of rivalry between the Christian nations of Europe, the focus of longing for Jews from all over the world and, ultimately, the site of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

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