Mishkenot Sha’ananim was the first Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, across from Mount Zion. It was built by British Jewish banker Sir Moses Montefiore in 1860 as an almshouse, Since it was outside the walls and open to Bedouin raids, pillage and general banditry rampant in the region at the time, the Jews were reluctant to move in, even though the housing was luxurious compared to the derelict and overcrowded houses in the Old City.