This article lists the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. The gates are visible on most old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years.
During different periods, the city walls followed different outlines and had a varying number of gates. During the era of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1291), Jerusalem had four gates, one on each side.
The current walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were built between 1533 and 1540 on orders of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who provided them with seven gates: six new gates were built, and the older and previously sealed Golden Gate was reopened (only to be re-sealed again after a few years). The seven gates at the time of Suleiman were, clockwise and by their current name: the Damascus Gate; Herod's Gate; Lions' Gate; Golden Gate; Dung Gate; Zion Gate; and Jaffa Gate.
With the re-sealing of the Golden Gate by Suleiman, the number of operational gates was only brought back to seven in 1887, with the addition of the New Gate.
Until 1887, each gate was closed before sunset and opened at sunrise.
The seven gates at the time of Suleiman were: Damascus Gate; Golden Gate; Herod's Gate; Jaffa Gate; Lions' Gate; Silwan Gate (also known as Mughrabi Gate, and now as Dung Gate); and Zion Gate. After the re-sealing of the Golden Gate already in Suleiman's time, the number of operational gates was only brought back to seven with the addition of the New Gate in 1887.
| English | Hebrew | Arabic | Alternative names | Construction year | Location | Status | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Gate | Sha'ar HaRahamimשער הרחמים "Gate Of Mercy" | Bab al-Dhahabi / al-Zahabi, "Golden Gate"باب الذهبي | A double gate, last sealed in 1541. In Arabic also known as the Gate of Eternal Life. In Arabic each door has its own name:
| 6th century | Northern third of eastern side | Sealed | ||
| Damascus Gate | Sha'ar Shkhemשער שכם "Nablus Gate" | Bab al-Amoudباب العمود | Sha'ar Damesek, Nablus Gate, Gate of the Pillar | 1537 | Middle of northern wall | Open | ||
| Herod's Gate | Sha'ar HaPerachimשער הפרחים "Gate Of The Flowers" | Bab al-Sahiraباب الساهرة | Sha'ar Hordos, Flower Gate, Sheep Gate | 1537; greatly expanded in 1875 | East part of northern wall | Open | ||
| Dung Gate / Silwan Gate / Maghrabi Gate | Sha'ar HaAshpotשער האשפות "Gate Of Trash" | Bab al-Magharibaباب المغاربة | Gate of Silwan, Sha'ar HaMugrabim | 1538–40 | East part of southern wall | Open | ||
| Lions' Gate | Sha'ar HaArayotשער האריות | Bab al-Asbattباب الأسباط | Gate of Yehoshafat,St. Stephen's Gate,Gate of the Tribes,St. Mary's Gate (باب ستي مريم, Bab Sittna Maryam) | 1538–39 | North part of eastern wall | Open | ||
| Jaffa Gate | Sha'ar Yafoשער יפו | Bab al-Khalilباب الخليل | The Gate of David's Prayer Shrine, Porta Davidi | 1530–40 | Middle of western wall | Open | ||
| Zion Gate | Sha'ar Tzionשער ציון | Bab al-Nabi Da'oudباب النبي داود | Gate to the Jewish Quarter | 1540 | Middle of southern wall | Open | ||
| New Gate | HaSha'ar HeHadashהשער החדש | Al-Bab al-Jedidالباب الجديد | Gate of Hammid | 1887 | West part of northern wall | Open |
A smaller entrance, popularly known as the Tanners' Gate, has been opened for visitors after being discovered and unsealed during excavations in the 1990s.
Sealed historic gates, other than the Golden Gate, comprise three that are at least partially preserved (the Single, Triple, and Double Gates in the southern wall), with several other gates discovered by archaeologists of which only traces remain (the so-called Gate of the Essenes on Mount Zion, the gate of Herod's royal palace south of the citadel, and the vague remains of what 19th-century explorers identified as the Gate of the Funerals (Bab al-Jana'iz) or of al-Buraq (Bab al-Buraq) south of the Golden Gate).[1]
| English | Hebrew | Arabic | Alternative names | Construction year | Location | Status | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Tanners' Gate" | Sha'ar HaBursekaimשער הבורסקאים | 12th century | East part of southern wall | Open | ||||
| Excavation Gate. (Eastern gate of the main Umayyad palace, attributed to Caliph Al-Walid I (705–715). Destroyed by an earthquake around 749, walled up when the Ottoman wall was built (1537–41), reopened and rebuilt by archaeologists led by Benjamin Mazar and Meir Ben-Dov in 1968.)[2] [3] | 705–715, 1968 | Wall south of Al-Aqsa Mosque | Open | |||||
| This gate led to the underground area of the Temple Mount known as Solomon's Stables | Herodian period | Southern wall of Temple Mount | Sealed | |||||
| Huldah Gates | Sha'arei Chuldaשערי חולדה | Two gates:
| Herodian period | Southern wall of Temple Mount | Sealed |