A visit to the Mahane Yehuda market
Last week I visited Jerusalem’s largest and most well-known market, Mahane Yehuda. The market has been operating since the late 19th century and has served as the main market for the predominantly Jewish western part of Jerusalem ever since.
Recently I took the Jerusalem Light Rail from the Central Bus Station to market to meet a friend.
While spending time waiting for my friend to pitch up, I decided to have a quick look around the place.
Mahane Yehuda is a combined indoor and outdoor market that sells mainly food but also some other items. Products sold at the stands include fruits, vegetables, sweets, meets, cheeses and of course the crowd-pleaser, hummus. A few restaurants and even bars also present at the market.
Local sweets such as halva and kanafe (a delectable concoction made of vermicelli, goats’ cheese and syrup) are on offer at many stands to satisfy the sweet tooth. In fact there’s even a halva shop called Halva Kingdom.
The vegetable market is a prominent part of the complex with many Jerusalem residents frequenting the area every day to do their grocery shopping.
The entrance doors of the shops are covered by spray-painted murals of prominent figures including politicians, writers and rabbis. While walking down one of the vertical aisles, I spotted a shop named after the Rambam (Moses Maimomedes), a famous 13th century Rabbi whose works played an instrumental role in the development of modern Judaism.
During Friday afternoons, before Shabbat the day of rest, many people congregate in the alleys to do last-minute shopping and listen to festive music. Walking along the empty streets during Friday evening after all the shops have closed can be an eerie and slightly unsettling experience.
After half an hour strolling around the market I finally came across my friend and we sat down at a Moroccan-style pancake restaurant called Nuna. We ordered some unassuming butter and honey pancakes which actually turned out to be surprisingly tasty.
If you ever get the chance to visit Jerusalem, no trip is complete without paying Mahane Yehuda a drawn-out and likely mouth-watering visit. There are even guided tours if you want to be sure about finding the best spots.
