Umariya Elementary School
Umariya Elementary School, also known as al-Omariyya, is an Islamic elementary school (madrassa) in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. It sits at the start of the Via Dolorosa, where the First Station of the Cross is, and is next to the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Under the school buildings lie the remains of the Antonia Fortress.
In 1996, an exit from the Western Wall Tunnel was opened under the school’s entrance stairs into the Via Dolorosa, by order of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some people in the Arab community saw this as a land grab, and riots followed, resulting in about 80 deaths.
To the south is part of the northern wall of the al-Aqsa Compound, including madrasas such as al-Muḥdathiyya, al-Jawiliyya, and aṣ-Ṣabībiyya. To the southeast is the wall section that includes the Gate of the Bani Ghānim.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:24 (CET).