Palestine · West Bank · East Jerusalem
Gilo, East Jerusalem — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Gilo is an Israeli settlement in south-western East Jerusalem, one of five Ring Neighborhoods raised on West Bank land after the 1967 Six-Day War.
About Gilo
Where to stay in Gilo
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Gilo went up in 1973 as housing, and the Ring Neighborhood plan made no allowance for a hotel row. Beds belong to East Jerusalem's older quarters instead, north of here, which is also where the Jerusalem Municipality concentrates the visitor trade that a residential edge of the West Bank never acquired. Cremisan and the Palestine Museum of Natural History are the named draws within reach.
Both are day trips from Gilo.
About Gilo
What are the main landmarks in Gilo?
The record attaches two landmarks to Gilo: Cremisan and the Palestine Museum of Natural History. Both stand on the West Bank ground that the 1967 Six-Day War left occupied and the 1980 Jerusalem Law folded into the Jerusalem Municipality's remit, which is why the district's nearest named sights were never built by it. The museum carries Palestine's name and its natural collections.
Gilo's Ring Neighborhood plan built housing, not monuments.
What is the history of Gilo?
Construction began in 1973, six years after the 1967 Six-Day War put the land under Israeli control. Gilo was one of five Ring Neighborhoods Israel laid around Jerusalem, and the 1980 Jerusalem Law completed on paper what the building had already settled on the ground, placing the whole of it inside the Jerusalem Municipality. Gilo's ground stayed West Bank.
That is why the settlement label attaches, whatever the municipal map says.
Where is Gilo?
Gilo stands at the south-western edge of East Jerusalem, on West Bank ground that the Jerusalem Municipality administers as part of the city.
More areas in East Jerusalem
Updated September 2026