The Mount of Olives (Hebrew: הַר הַזֵּיתִים har ha-zeitim, Arabic: جبل الزيتون jabal az-zaytūn) is a mount located in East Jerusalem, Palestine, 1 kilometre to the east of the Old City of Jerusalem.
It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. The southern part was the Silwan necropolis, attributed to the ancient Judean kingdom. The base of the mount has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves, making it central in the tradition of Jewish cemeteries.[3] Several key events in the life of Jesus, as related in the Gospels, took place on the Mount of Olives, and in the Acts of the Apostles it is described as the place from which Jesus ascended to heaven. Because of its association with both Jesus and Mary, the mount has been a site of Christian worship since ancient times and is today a major site of pilgrimage for Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants.
The south and southwestern base of the mount has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves, making it central in the tradition of Jewish cemeteries. The cemeteries are part of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) which incorporates the Old City and divides East Jerusalem from West Jerusalem, Israel along the Green Line; however, above the cemeteries, the mount itself is under Palestinian jurisdiction, administratively part of the East Jerusalem borough of El-Tour ("the Mount"), its summit hosting the Mount of Olives Citadel, headquarters of the Republican Guard.
The Jewish cemeteries in the DMZ as well as the Pater Noster Church and Tomb of the Prophets in El-Tour and the Citadel at the summit (formerly an Ottoman and then British compound) are popular attractions, hosting multiple daily tours and events.