Muristan, an area of 17 thousand square meters in the Christian quarter, is among the three temples of the Holy sepulchre, the Greek-Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist and Lutheran Church of the Savior. Small space delineated by streets, the rays extending from the Central square with a fountain. The lanes are 70 shops that make up the market "Atimos". But Muristan worth a visit not only because of the market: it is a historical place.

Street on the East side of the district and is called Muristan. Memorial sign on the wall says that there were the first hospital of the order of St. John of Jerusalem (a variant of the naming of the Knights Hospitaller, or Maltese). One of the most famous medieval religious and military orders began in the XII century it was the site where, in the hospital, providing treatment not only Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land, but also all those who need it.

The hospital occupied a huge building with massive pillars and ribbed vaults. Here at the same time could be up to two thousand people – they were treated and fed for free, Jews were provided kosher food. Also the Hospitallers helped the poor, restored Byzantine Church of St. John the Baptist, destroyed in the seventh century. Residential homes and hospital buildings of the Order occupied the whole block.

After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the new ruler, Sultan Saladin, was banished from the city for all Christians, including the Hospitallers (say, ten knights were allowed to stay on time, to care for sick Christians). But there continued to heal, and in the thirteenth century opened and a madhouse. The place finally got the name of Muristan (distorted Persian word meaning the hospital). However, during the earthquake in 1457, the hospital building collapsed, they did not restore it, and the area gradually fell into decay. (Huge halls of the old hospital were unearthed and presented to the public in 2013.)

Life stirred up again in the second half of the XIX century, when Sultan Abdul-Aziz gave the Eastern part of Muristan Prussian crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, and West, in order to ensure equal representation of denominations, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Germans built the magnificent Church of the Savior (its bell tower stands at the North end of the street Muristan), and the Greeks took over the care of the Church and monastery of St. John the Baptist. In 1903 there was opened the Greek market "Atimos" – believed to be at the initiative of Archimandrite Altimas.

Now Muristan – loud and fun place. The market sell leather and jewelry, Souvenirs, clothing, and carpets of bright colors. In a small market square smells of coffee – where you can eat outdoors. Around often you hear Russian speech, in some small signs in Russian. The beginning of the XX century fountain in the center of the square, decorated with a rare Jerusalem sculptures of human faces, regularly used as a backdrop for music festivals.