Hezekiah's Pool, Reservoir in the Christian Quarter, Old City of Jerusalem, Israel

Hezekiah's Pool is a rectangular sunken reservoir in Jerusalem's Christian Quarter, measuring 72 by 44 metres and 6.5 to 7 metres deep. Its sheer sides are built of pale grey and tan stone blocks, with rough rock at lower levels, and its cemented bottom rests on levelled natural rock. The basin is now dry and its rim is littered with debris and weeds.

The pool is believed to have been built by King Hezekiah around 700 BCE to secure the city's water supply. Over the centuries, it became part of a complex water distribution system with aqueducts that brought water from outside the city walls into Jerusalem.

The pool is named after the biblical King Hezekiah and has been called by different names throughout history, including 'Pool of the Patriarch's Bath'. Water from this reservoir served the needs of residents nearby for washing and daily activities, making it essential to how people lived in the city.

The pool is located in Jerusalem's Old City within the Christian Quarter, hidden among buildings and shops with narrow pathways leading to it. Access is limited because it is surrounded by private property, so check beforehand about current visiting possibilities.

The pool's Arabic name, Birkat al-Batraq, dates from the Crusader period, when it was called the 'Sea of the Baths of the Patriarchal Palace'. The historian Josephus called it Amygdalon, Greek for 'almond tree', but scholars think this was a phonetic rendering of the Hebrew migdal, 'tower', so its original name was likely Pool of the Tower.