Jerusalem's Old City walls
Jerusalem's Old City Walls encompass an area of barely 1 km². They were built in the
16th century (
1535-
1538) by the
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the
Ottoman Turks after they had been razed in
1219 by al-Mu'azzim. Those are the walls mentioned when talking about Jerusalem's walls, but there have been many different sets of walls surrounding Jerusalem.
| | Jerusalem Old-City by night |
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Before
King David's conquest of Jerusalem in the
10th century BC the city was known as
Jebus and the home of the
Jebusites. The
Bible describes the city as heavily fortified with a strong
city wall but not much is known about it.
King Solomon extended the city walls. In about
440 BC, under the
Persian period,
Nehemiah arrived from
Babylon and rebuilt them.
In AD
41-
44 Agrippa, king of
Judea, built a new city wall known as the "Third Wall".
In
135, after Emperor
Hadrian's total destruction of Jerusalem and renaming it to
Aelia Capitolina he rebuilt the walls.
The current walls of the Old City do not include the original area conquered by
King David. This area, which is now called the
City of David, is located to south east of the current Old City Outside
The Dung Gate.
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Gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls*
Defensive wall*
Places in Jerusalem*
Jewish,
Muslim,
Christian, and
Armenian Quarters
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Jerusalem Old City Walls and Gates*
Main Events In The History Of Jerusalem*
The Old City from Jerusalem Photo Portal
