Israeli Construction Minister Yoav Gallant (left), touring the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. Photo: Yoav Gallant Facebook page.

JNS.org – The discovery of a 1,500-year-old Byzantine arch was revealed Wednesday at a ceremony attended by Israeli Construction Minister Yoav Gallant in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

The arch was discovered during recent excavation work to uncover the layout of the street between the Hurva Synagogue, considered Israel’s most important synagogue until the 1948 War of Independence, and the Cardo, Jerusalem’s main street during the Roman era.

Gallant also unveiled the second mosaic in the “Jerusalem of Mosaics” project and viewed artifacts that were recently unearthed beneath the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue. The Jerusalem of Mosaics project, initiated by the Jewish Quarter Restoration and Development Company, aims to shed light on everyday life along the Cardo 1,500 years ago.

“The restoration of the [Jewish] Quarter, whose destruction was forced upon us by our enemies, is a historic task, and every new discovery advances us to the next archaeological challenge,” Gallant said.

“The 2,000-year-old stones that our forefathers walked on are a moving testimony to the unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and this place,” he said.