Montefiore Windmill

This Victorian-era stone windmill stands at the edge of Yemin Moshe, the first Jewish neighbourhood built outside the Old City walls, constructed by Moses Montefiore in 1860. From the slope below, looking north, you have one of Jerusalem's best views: the Old City walls and the Jaffa Gate straight ahead, the golden Dome of the Rock visible above. The windmill itself, restored and operational again, is now a small museum commemorating Montefiore's long connection to Jerusalem — he visited the city seven times between 1827 and 1875 and funded schools, hospitals, and housing.

The Yemin Moshe neighbourhood surrounding the windmill is one of Jerusalem's most attractive, a quiet enclave of stone houses and terraced gardens popular with artists and musicians. The sculpture garden below the windmill is pleasant and mostly empty of tourists even in busy season.

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A story
The windmill was built in 1857 by Anglo-Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore to provide affordable flour to Jerusalem's Jewish poor. It barely worked — the winds were insufficient and the local population didn't know how to operate it — and it stood idle within years of completion. After over a century and a half out of service, it was restored in 2012 and now turns again as a symbol of the city's self-sufficiency.