But for the curiosity, lively intelligence and considerable sleuthing of a group of young scholars, a unique and exquisitely detailed model of Jerusalem in the 1870s might still lie moldering in the basement of a museum in Geneva. Today, however, the completely restored 13-foot by 15-foot zinc model, crafted in 1872 by a Hungarian Catholic, Stephan Illes, has been put on display in the Museum of the History of Jerusalem in the Citadel of the Old City and has become an instant attraction for scholars, residents and tourists. The search for Stephan Illes and his model began five years […]
