To turn his interior scenes in Jerusalem, Sidney Olcott needs a studio. He needs a lot located not too far from the hotel. It is across the other side of Jaffa Road, at the corner of rue Saint-Louis. It is bordered by the walls of the old town, between the New Gate and Jaffa Gate. A convent, owned by the Soeurs réparatrices, dominates the area . It is not uncommon to see the sisters do their strange watching what is happening below.

The location of the Kalem studio backed the ramparts of the old city gates between New and Jaffa. In front of the former hotel Fast, destroyed, became Pearl Hotel.

Seriously damaged by the fighting in 1947 between Jews and Arabs, the covent was bought by the Jewish state after the 1967 war. is razed and leaves room for a garden.
This is where Olcott restored the Temple for the scenes of the presentation of the child Jesus and the expulsion of the merchants. Allen Farnham, head of the studio, was inspired by models of the Temple Mount, made by Dr. Conrad Schick (1822-1901). German architect, archaeologist and Protestant missionary has conducted research on the Temple Mount.

The entrance of Temple Mount, reconstructed in studio.

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