What I have said of this synagogue may also be applied to the rest, which, as they are smaller, so are they more inconvenient, and in a still more ruinous condition. During my stay in the city a new synagogue was built on the eastern slope of Sion, called the Polish. It rises majestically, and its dome dominates over a large portion of the city, but I know too well that it will not last long, as its foundations are bad; because the master-mason who directed the work had not sufficiently examined the ground, and so mistook its nature. They were laid in a great measure on ancient walls, which, not so much from ignorance of their existence, as from a mistaken economy, were not properly examined. Therefore when the new walls were finished, and the greater part of the dome completed, cracks, caused by a settlement, appeared all along the building. Consequently it became necessary to strengthen the foundations and to modify the design of the façade by closing up arches and windows, and using iron tie-rods. At present it seems likely to stand for some years; but not for a long period, as its materials and masonry are not very strong.
A German synagogue on the east of the Polish, reached by threading a labyrinth of dirty lanes, is now being repaired. Those in charge of the work have begun to restore the façade, over which they have wasted a great quantity of money in loading it with useless ornament; and have paid no attention to the interior, which, in my opinion, should be the first consideration: consequently they are now at a standstill for want of funds. There are other small synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, but these are not worth notice, being only rooms used for that purpose.
Quitting the Jewish Quarter by its south side in order to reach the Sion Gate, we come upon the Armenian property, and stop a little to examine their churches. In the outer wall of the Convent, close to the Gate of David, is a small chapel, said to occupy the site of the house of Annas the High-Priest, father-in-law to Caiaphas[514], whither our Saviour was brought after he had been made prisoner at Gethsemane. The tradition is not very old, and is of little value, because, after so large a part of the city towards the south has been destroyed, and the whole greatly changed by the ravages of Titus's army and other causes, it is highly improbable that the site of a house can be exactly fixed. Adrichomius[515] says of this chapel, "the house of Annas, father-in-law to Caiaphas, where afterwards the Church of the Holy Angels was built." It is small, but divided into a nave and two side aisles by two pillars, which sustain the vaulted roof.