NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Jerusalem is the “gateway to heaven” for three major religions, where faithful Jews, Christians and Muslims feel exceptionally close to the Eternal.

Yet the holy city has also been an excellent place to get your skull cracked, or worse, as we’re reminded in “Secrets of Jerusalem’s Holiest Sites,” a National Geographic Channel special that aired earlier this month.While respectful in tone, this concise and beautifully shot hour-long programme doesn’t shy away from the fact that the lamb and lion still haven’t settled their differences, and maybe never will.

Jerusalem is “perhaps the most fought-over city in the history of the world,” according to the show, which offers a history lesson starting from the earliest possible moment.

Some traditions hold that Adam and Eve were scraped together here; Abraham, patriarch of all three faiths, would later bring son Isaac to be sacrificed atop Mt. Moriah, an elevated ridge that would become part of perhaps the most hallowed ground on Earth.

The show chronicles the many tugs of war between Judaism, Christianity and Islam to control this area — another reminder that, when it comes to real estate, location really is everything.

The First and Second Temples sacred to Judaism were erected — and demolished — in Jerusalem. Islam holds that Mohammad later ascended to heaven from the city, the exact location now housed beneath the magnificent Dome of the Rock, which dominates the skyline.

A few blocks away, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is believed to contain both the site of the crucifixion and the tomb which, according to Christian tradition, Jesus used for only a brief period.

National Geographic’s cameras take us into many of these nooks and crannies, including underground areas near the Western Wall held sacred by many Jews. How sacred? From here, a call to God is local; from everywhere else one must dial long distance.

We get a look at the Well of Souls, a small enclosure beneath the rock from which Mohammad is said to have ascended. In this smallish space, Muslims believe, the souls of the dead will gather while awaiting the Final Judgment.

There’s also a short visit to Jesus’ tomb, a segment that includes a re-enactment of the Resurrection; meaning no irreverence, the actor in the key role looks slightly surprised to be coming back around.

The programme offers a host of interesting facts: In its early days Islam’s faithful bowed toward Jerusalem, though the point of reference was later changed to Mecca.

Construction of the First Temple required 3,300 supervisors, took seven years to complete and pioneered a process we now call pre-construction because the sound of iron tools was forbidden.

There’s also footage of contemporary residents singing, dancing, praying — and sometimes dodging bullets. Jerusalem continues to offer express service to the netherworld.

One reasonably wonders why this somewhat forbidding area would become the launching ground for such momentous events. As the show points out, there is no nearby port, very few natural resources and only a “third-class water supply.” Also, the early city was not directly on the major trade routes.

The Lord works in mysterious ways, so he may not be done yet. The show concludes with a grim reminder that while Jerusalem is a city of many beginnings, “this is where the end will come,” according to prophecies.

If past is prelude, perhaps it’s the ideal location.

For more information on the program, see http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel.