Walls of Jerusalem, Defensive walls in Old City, Israel.
The Walls of Jerusalem are limestone fortifications in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, stretching 4018 meters and rising up to 12 meters high. Seven gates and 34 watchtowers are distributed along the entire circuit and still shape the cityscape today.
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the ruined walls rebuilt in 1535, and construction ran from 1537 to 1541. The Ottoman work largely followed the line of earlier fortifications, and the Fatimids had already left out Mount Zion and the City of David after the 1033 earthquake. In 1981 the walls and the Old City entered the UNESCO World Heritage list.
The seven open gates carry names tied to destinations and communities: Damascus Gate faces the road north to Damascus, Jaffa Gate the route west to the port of Jaffa, and Zion Gate leads toward Mount Zion. Herod's Gate, Lions' Gate, Dung Gate and New Gate complete the circuit, each serving a different quarter of the Old City.
Visitors can walk sections of the ramparts between Jaffa Gate and Damascus Gate in the north, as well as between Jaffa Gate and Zion Gate in the south. The paths offer views over the Old City and surrounding quarters, but are not continuously accessible for wheelchairs.
The walls contain stone blocks from different eras, including remnants of structures built during the Second Temple period about 2000 years ago. Some of these older stones were reused during the Ottoman reconstruction and are still visible today.
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