The Damascus Gate in Jerusalem
Another famous century-old gate in Jerusalem is the Damascus Gate, which you shouldn’t miss to see when in Jerusalem.
The Damascus Gate in Jerusalem is known for its outstanding beauty and impressive structure built in the 16th century. It’s one of the well-known gates outside the Old City wall. The gate itself is separated into two parts. The outer part of the gate consists of a decorated archway that leads to a small outdoor plaza, where people from all over Jerusalem come to visit and pray.
During the time of Suleiman the Magnificent, a courtyard built mostly from stones has the statue of the emperor as the centerpiece. And because of that, the popular gate in the city is believed to be named after the ancient pillar in the middle of the courtyard in the vicinity of the gate erected since the era of Roman-Byzantine. Thus the entrance is also called “Bab El Amud” in Arabic which translates to as “Gate of the Pillar.”
The gate is adorned with well-curated arched decorations, making it very important in the past. As a result many observation points were constructed as well as guard towers to protect the gate from invaders. It features defense mechanism to protect the city from outside invaders through its two towers that were surrounded with machicolations or floor openings around the towers to safely attack enemies.
Aside from the Damascus gate’s architectural design, the streets from this entrances are also worth visiting because of the well-preserved Roman-inspired buildings and structures. From the entrance, there are two notable splitting streets in the area namely the Khan A-Zeit and El Wad Street. These streets are important routes for most of the community is the place as they connect important points from the north going through the surrounding neighborhoods, landmarks and roads in the south.
Behind the current gate, the remains of an earlier gate can be seen. It dates back to the time of Emperor Hadrian’s visit in 130-131 CE. The Roman emperor was known to have visited the region and inspected it thoroughly in order to inspect how his empire’s new province was functioning.
The 2nd-century gate of the city, which was buried beneath the Ottoman gate, was discovered by archaeologists after 130 CE. On it is written the city’s Roman name, ‘Aelia Capitolina’. In 2013, there is a survey that revealed the continuation of the construction of the area within the gate during the time of Justinian I, the Byzantine emperor.
Although the beauty of the Gate is remarkable in the morning, there is an ugly truth of violence hiding within the Damascus gate where Palestinians, police and soldiers often had encounters. In fact, just last year, violent night clashes are triggered between the Israeli police and some Palestinians because of the closure of the staired plaza.
