The Yemin Moshe Windmill

One of the most prominent symbols of the west of the city of Jerusalem is the Windmill which greets those who enter the Yemin Moshe neighborhood. This impressive Windmill, the round structure of which is made of chiseled stone and at the top of which is a metal dome, rises to the height of about 18 meters. The Yemin Moshe Windmill was built in 1858 under the philanthropist Moses Montefiore, who did a lot for the coming out of the Jews of Jerusalem from inside the walls of the Old city. The Yemin Moshe Windmill was designed as a flour mill meant to provide those Jews with a livelihood. The Yemin Moshe Windmill was active for two decades only and suffered from various problems, such as complicated and too sensitive machinery, a design which did not really consider enough the direction of the winds, etc. The Yemin Moshe Windmill was renovated in the beginning of the 1980s and it now houses a museum which tells the story of Moses Montefiore. Next to the Yemin Moshe Windmill is a structure in which is found a reconstruction of Moses Montefiore’s carriage. From the Yemin Moshe Windmill there is a beautiful lookout over to the views of Gai Ben-Hinnom (Gehenna) and the walls of Jerusalem.