Mea She'arim

This guide to Mea She'arim in Jerusalem opens in 1874, when a hundred families chose to settle a stretch of bare rock outside the Old City walls despite the robbers who stalked it after dark. Their leader hired architect Conrad Schick to design something closer to a fortress than a neighborhood, with blank outer walls and gates locked every night. Best walked with shoulders and knees covered, as the signs on the walls ask.