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Kiryat HaMemshala, Jerusalem — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Kiryat HaMemshala is the government precinct of the State of Israel, a planned quarter of ministries on the Givat Ram ridge in Jerusalem.
About Kiryat HaMemshala
Where to stay in Kiryat HaMemshala
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
The ministries leave Kiryat HaMemshala with hardly a room to let. Ministry buildings and their car parks fill the ground, so visitors book in the surrounding Jerusalem neighbourhoods and walk or ride in for a morning appointment. Bookings cluster on the museum side of Givat Ram, where the Israel Museum and the Bible Lands Museum stand within a few minutes of the ministries, or in the older streets across the valley from the Monastery of the Holy Cross.
Both sit a short bus ride away.
About Kiryat HaMemshala
What are the main landmarks in Kiryat HaMemshala?
Sightseeing sits just outside the precinct. The Israel Museum occupies the same Givat Ram ridge as the ministries and shelters the Shrine of the Book on its grounds, a walk of a few minutes from the precinct's edge. The Bible Lands Museum stands beside it.
Lower down, the Monastery of the Holy Cross holds the valley floor, while Yad Vashem and Mount Herzl Plaza mark a separate ridge further west.
What is the history of Kiryat HaMemshala?
Building began in 1950. The plan gathered the ministries of the State of Israel into a single quarter on Givat Ram, on open ground at the edge of the built-up city, and the precinct picked up a second name, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, that is still used alongside the first. Museums followed onto the neighbouring plots.
What began as an administrative address became a place people visit for other reasons entirely.
Where is Kiryat HaMemshala?
The precinct spreads across the flat crown of Givat Ram, with the ground falling away to the valley that holds the Monastery of the Holy Cross.
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Updated September 2026