The Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem

On our trip to Israel, in October, we entered the old city of Jerusalem through lots of different gates, many of which are very interesting.


This is the Golden Gate, which as you can see is now bricked up. In front of it is a Muslim graveyard. It is the gate facing the Mount of Olives, on the east side of the Temple Mount, which is now a Muslim Holy site. The Bible tells us that it is through this gate that Jesus will return into Jerusalem.

This is the Damascus gate, the most ornate of all the gates. It is on the north side of the city, where the road to Damascus used to start.

This next gate is called Zion Gate. It connects the Armenian Quarter with Mount Zion, which is outside the city wall on the south west corner. The outside of the wall is covered with bullet holes from the British invasion in 1947.

This last gate is called the Dung Gate, also on the south side. It is the closest gate to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount and so called because it was through this gate that the city refuse was taken out of the city.

The other gates are called, Lions Gate, New Gate, Herod's Gate and Jaffa Gate. One thing that amazed us was how vehicles entered and exited through some of these very narrow gates.

The walls of the old city can be walked in places and If I ever go the Jerusalem again, I will make walking the ramparts a goal. The view from the walls must be wonderful and I'm sure you can get a much better feel of how the different quarters of the city fit together.