The Damascus Gate

The construction of the Damascus gate dates back to the second century CE, the period of the Roman city. Year 1542, the  present-day gate was built by the Ottoman ruler (Turkish Empire) Suleiman The Magnificent. It is known as the gates of Damascus, because the road coming out of the gates leads in the direction of Damascus. Famous by many names, the gates are also known as Shechem Gate  by the Jews or Nablus Gate and in Arabic the gate is called Bab al’Amoud, Pole Gate or Gate of the Column because of the tall pillar topped by a statue of the emperor that stood in this gate’s plaza during the Roman and Byzantine era.

Located on the northern wall, it is the busiest and most magnificent of all Jerusalem’s gates filled with Arab bazaar and marketplace. The neoteric design of a triple gate, resembling a triumphal arch was excavated by the British which was estimated to be built at the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (2nd century A.D.).  It consists of one large center gate originally intended for use by well-heeled persons and inviduals, and two smaller side entrances for bourgeois and peasants.

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