3D app uncovers lost Mughrabi quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City

AFP | Jerusalem   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

More than 55 years after Israel destroyed the Moroccan quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, it has been rebuilt in 3D with the help of a mobile phone application launched yesterday.

Once located at the foot of the Western Wall, the Moroccan, or Mughrabi, quarter was inhabited by about 1,000 people until Israeli forces captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Israel demolished the neighbourhood and went on to annex east Jerusalem -- a move deemed illegal by the United Nations. In just a few hours, Israeli bulldozers tore through more than 100 buildings, displacing residents of the neighbourhood, founded in 1187 by Saladin who defeated the Crusaders in Jerusalem.

The ancient leader had established the quarter for Muslim pilgrims from North Africa. Today it serves as a plaza in front of one of Judaism’s most sacred sites.

“I think 99 per cent of visitors who are in front of the Western Wall know nothing of this history,” French historian Vincent Lemire told AFP. Working with Italy’s University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Lemire developed a mobile application allowing people to stroll through each alley.

The application’s designers said it “allows users an immersive experience across the streets, mosques, schools, and courtyards of the Maghrebi quarter”.

Lemire, who authored a book on the neighbourhood in 2022, said the 3D technology makes it possible to reach a wider audience than in academic writings. “The history of this neighbourhood is inaccessible, it must be made more accessible,” he said.