You can tell a lot about a city by whether it has an outdoor market and Jerusalem has a great market. In 1982 for a book called “Israel Sprouts: A Vegetarian Guidebook (to Israel)” I drew a map of Mahane Yehuda to help people find their way around. Now I’ve updated the map to reflect Mahane Yehuda today – it’s not just a fruit and vegetable market with shops selling dried goods. It has gentrified and there are restaurants and cafes, designer clothes shops, health food stores, artisan bakeries, shops that sell imported cheeses, fine wines, chocolates, halva. Since the map is now on computer, I plan to update it often so please check back to ensure you have the latest version. To add your input, please take a moment to add your comments about how you used the map and what you discovered during your explorations.

Click on the map above to make it full size and then print it (it fits on A4 paper). Alternatively, download it to your iPhone or iPod Touch. With the map in hand head out to explore the shuk on your own or contact me for a guided tour of Mahane Yehuda.

Some suggestions on things to do with the help of this map:

1. Mid-morning and you went out without breakfast – check out the health food stores on Agrippas Street, buy some fresh fruit, like pineapple, star fruit, kiwis, mangos; try a bureka, a filo pastry with cheese and/or spinach.
2. Want organic? There is organic produce and products at TevaNet on Agrippas and an organic restaurant on #1 Agas Street, note that Agas is called Banai at Mahane Yehuda Street.
3. Picnic? Head for one of the stores like Basher or Zedkiyahu and pick up an assortment of cheeses & salads. Get artisan breads at Teller. Wine? Fruit for desert. Walk down Agrippas Street (west, away from town) to the park, Gan Sacher.
4. Snack – felafel (in our family, the favorite is the brothers Levi on the corner of Mahane Yehuda and Agrippas Street) or hummus at Rachmos or Azura in the Iraqi shuq.
5. Looking for something else-there is Ichankanda – a vegetarian Indian restaurant, Topolino – a cozy, Italian restaurant.
6. Looking for a present for loved ones back home – check out the designer clothes, handbags, housewares; Moroccan handicrafts at Rika.