Open House Jerusalem Tours Bukharian Quarter’s “Palace” and a Bukhara-Built Orphanage Synagogue

Visitors to Jerusalem this week can get inside two landmarks built by Bukharian Jews during the city’s annual Open House festival. A separate guided walk of the Bukharian Quarter next runs Tuesday.

The festival, known in Hebrew as Batim Mibifnim (“Houses From Within”), is marking its 18th year. It runs over two weekends, Oct. 15–17 and Oct. 22–24, 2026, and is led by the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority, according to the official program. The program says the event is modeled on the Open House Worldwide network, which holds similar events in London, New York and other cities.

The “Palace” on HaBukharim Street

Tour No. 084, “The Palace and the Courtyards of the Bukharian Quarter,” starts at 10 HaBukharim Street. The program describes the Palace, Beit Yehudayoff, as an imposing two-story building in the style of a 16th-century Italian villa, also known as the “Messiah’s Palace.” When it was built, the program says, it was the most magnificent house in Jerusalem, and Amos Oz, S.Y. Agnon and many other writers described it in their work.

Guide Aharon Paz will tell the building’s story, from the wealthy Bukharian merchant who built it, through the Turkish headquarters that operated there, to the Haredi girls’ school that uses it today. The route also passes other buildings in the neighborhood and the renovated market. The remaining session is Friday, Oct. 23, at 11:30 a.m. It requires advance registration and is limited to 30 participants. The first session was held Oct. 15.

An orphanage built by families from Bukhara

Tour No. 097 visits the synagogue of the Sephardic Orphanage, in Mashiach Borochoff Alley between Jaffa Road and Agrippas Street, opposite Mesilat Yesharim. According to the program, the building dates to 1908 and its architect is unknown. It was built by the Borochoff brothers and the Issacharoff family, who came from Bukhara, as a home for orphaned Sephardic children.

The program describes an H-shaped building with a paved inner courtyard, hidden in a side alley. Despite its architectural qualities, it says, the building is neglected and many people do not know it exists. The visit is led by Louis Lipsky, who represents the Ahdut Yisrael synagogue on the building’s second floor, and focuses on the history of that synagogue, which commemorates fallen members of the Irgun and Lehi. Each visit lasts about 90 minutes. Open sessions, with no registration needed, are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, at 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 23, at 9 a.m. The program marks the building as not accessible.

A guided walk on Tuesdays

Separately, the tour company Jerusalem Out of the Box lists a two-hour guided walk, “Between Bukhara and Jerusalem,” on the iTravelJerusalem site. It runs Tuesdays, Oct. 20 and 27 and Nov. 3, and Friday, Nov. 6, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The listing says the walk stops at the Yehudayoff family’s Bukharian palace, the Moshiyoff house, the Haj Yehezkel house, the Adoniyahu HaCohen synagogue, the Tzofiyoff and Mussayoff houses and the renovated Bukharian market. It also tells the story of Samarkand textile magnate Yosef Davidoff and ends at the Tzfania Hotel. The listing calls the walk family-friendly and easy, led by a licensed guide, and says it needs at least 10 participants to go ahead.

The Open House program says participants visit the buildings and join the tours at their own responsibility. Registration for the tours that require it is on the festival website.

This report was translated from Hebrew by Bukharian Jewish Post from the official Open House Jerusalem 2026 program and the iTravelJerusalem tour listing.

Sources: Open House Jerusalem 2026 official program (PDF); Open House Jerusalem 2026 (Batim Mibifnim); iTravelJerusalem: Jerusalem Out of the Box Bukharian Quarter tour.