Lions' Gate
| Lions' Gate | |
|---|---|
Jerusalem Old City, Muslim Quarter | |
| Coordinates | 31°46′51″N 35°14′13″E / 31.78083°N 35.23694°E |
| Completed | 1538/9 (AH 945)[1] |
| Renovated | 2012[2] |
| Dimensions | |
| Other dimensions | Height: 13.7 m (45 ft)[3] |
Lions' Gate (
Old City.
History
The start of the traditional
Mamluks in 1517. Legend has it that Suleiman's predecessor Selim I dreamed of lions that were going to eat him because of his plans to level the city. He was spared only after promising to protect the city by building a wall around it. This led to the lion becoming the heraldic symbol of Jerusalem.[4][dubious
]
Historian
Baibars. Sharon estimates that they all date to approximately 1273 C.E.[5]
The gate is part of the city's extant walls, built by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman in 1538. The walls stretch for approximately 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) and rise to a height of 5–15 meters (16–49 ft), with a thickness of 3 meters (9.8 feet).[6] All together, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open.
In 1967, it was through this gate that Israeli paratroopers broke into the Old City of Jerusalem, occupied, along with the rest of East Jerusalem and the whole West Bank, from Jordan at the time.[7]
![Detail of Lions' Gate carvings, actually leopards[8] (panthers).[4]](/File:Loewentor_Leoparden.jpg)
See also
References
- ^ "Jerusalem within the Walls". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ "Conservation work at the Lions Gate completed". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel). 11 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ Conservation of the Lions Gate Section, Israel Antiquities Authority, 2012, retrieved 10 January 2022
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-923666-4
- ^ Sharon, 2009, p. 58 and pl. 6.
- ^ The Jerusalem Post Millennium Special Archived 2007-04-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "אתרים- קבצים". 2011-06-17. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
- ^ Jerusalem municipality website Archived 2011-06-17 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-90-04-17085-8.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lions Gate.
- Photos of the gate at the Manar al-Athar photo archive
- The Old City Gates: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org Archived 2016-11-29 at the Wayback Machine