If you continue walking south on Misgav Ladach street, named after the now defunct hospital which had its humble beginnings on this street, and make a right on Beit HaShoeva street you will reach a large open square known in the neighborhood as " HaKikar HaYeshana", the old square. On your left, down the narrow staircase is a long building which today houses three elementary schools: Mamad(state religious), Achinoam boys school and Moriah girls school.
Back in the late 1800's this was a housing project which was built to alleviate the crowded and expensive living conditions in the Old City. Torah greats such as Rav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld lived in these quarters and it was from here that the last Jews of the Old City were exiled in 1948.
Opposite the school on the bottom level you can peek through the gate to see the remains of the Nea Church, built by Justinian during the Byzantine era. This massive complex, which remains largely unexcavated stretches out towards the Old City walls to the south , and is thought to be built with the stones from Jerusalem of the Second Temple period.
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