The Jaffa Gate

The Jaffa Gate is a stone portal in the historic walls of Jerusalem's Old City; it is one of eight gates in Jerusalem's Old City walls. Image File history File linksMetadata Jaffa_Gate_Jerusalem. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Jaffa_Gate_Jerusalem. ... Jerusalem (Hebrew:  , Yerushaláyim or Yerushalaim; Arabic:  , al-Quds (the Holy); official Arabic in Israel: أورشليم القدس, Urshalim-al-Quds (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names) is the capital and largest city[1] of the State of Israel with a population of 724,000 (as of May 24, 2006[2... ... There are eight (nine) gates in Jerusalems Old City Walls. ...

The Jaffa gate opens to a road, Jaffa Street that leads Israel's largest city, Tel Aviv, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In ancient times, that road lead to the port city of Jaffa, which is now just along the southern edge of Tel Aviv. Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ... Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea. ...

On the Old City side of the Jaffa Gate is a small square between the Christian and Armenian Quarters. The Christian Quarter is to the north, on the left, and the Armenian Quarter is to the South, on the right. Straight ahead an Arab 'shuq' (market) runs due east along a narrow street that leads to Muslim Quarters. The Jewish Quarter is accessed by a number of streets and alleyways running off the gate square. The Armerian Quarter is one of the four quarters in the Old City of Jerusalem. ...

Running along the high city walls just to the south of the Gate is The Citadel of Jerusalem, also referred to as the "Tower of David", a notable Jerusalem landmark that dates back to antiquity. The current tower was built during the reign of the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Tower of David Migdal David in Jerusalem as it appears today The Tower of David is Jerusalems citadel, a historical and archaeological site of world importance. ... Suleiman I (Modern Turkish: Süleyman; Arabic: ‎ Sulaymān) (November 6, 1494 – September 5/6, 1566), was the tenth Osmanli Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and its longest-serving, reigning from 1520 to 1566. ...

When German Kaiser Wilhelm I visited Jerusalem, the Turkish authorities created a gap in the city's wall, in order to allow the visitor to enter the city without dismpounting his horse. The act was a symbol of friendship between the two empires. In 1917, British general Edmund Allenby entered the Old CIty through this gate, giving a peech at the nearby Tower of David. During Israel's War of Independence, Israeli forces fought hard to connect the Jewish Quarter of the Old City with western Jerusalem by controlling the Jaffa Gate. With a Jordanian victory in 1948, Israeli forces were not able to regain control of the gate until the Six Day War in 1967. Wilhelm I of Germany Wilhelm I, (March 22, 1797 - March 9, 1888), German Emperor (Kaiser), ruled January 18, 1871-1888 and king of Prussia, ruled 1861-1888. ... Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby ( April 23, 1861 - May 14, 1936) was a British soldier most famous for his role during World War I, in which he led the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the conquest of Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918. ... The term War of Independence is generally used to describe a war occurring over a territory that has declared independence. ...

As the westernmost of the gates, it is heavily used by pedestrians and vehicles, and the plaza in front of the gate has been expanded to connect with new residential developments outside the gate.

See also

• Tower of David

Tower of David Migdal David in Jerusalem as it appears today The Tower of David is Jerusalems citadel, a historical and archaeological site of world importance. ...

External links

• A picture of the Jaffa Gate on thirdtemple.com