Lions' Gate

Lions' Gate

The Lions' Gate ( _he. שער האריות, also "St. Stephen's Gate" or "Sheep Gate") is located in the Old City Walls of Jerusalem and is one of seven Gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls.

Located in the east wall, the entrance marks the beginning of the traditional Christian observance of the last walk of Jesus from prison to execution, the Via Dolorosa. Near the gate’s crest are four figures of panthers, often mistaken for lions, two on the left and two on the right. They were placed there by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to celebrate the Ottoman defeat of the Mamluks in 1517. Legend has it that Suleiman's predecessor Selim I was captured by 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. [Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, "The Holy Land: an Oxford archaeological guide from earliest times to 1700", 2008, p. 21, ISBN 978-0-19-923666-4]

Israeli paratroops from the 55th Paratroop Brigade came through this gate during the Six-Day War of 1967 and unfurled the Israeli flag above the Temple Mount.

The Lions' Gate is not to be confused with the Zion Gate in the Old City Wall, located in the south, leading to the Jewish and Armenian Quarters.

The magnificent walls of Jerusalem's Old City were built by the Ottoman Empire under the direct supervision of Sultan Suleiman in 1542. The walls stretch for approximately 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) and rise to a height of 5–15 meters (16–49 feet), with a thickness of 3 meters (10 feet). [ [http://info.jpost.com/2000/Supplements/Millennium/centuries3.html The Jerusalem Post Millennium Special ] ] Altogether, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open.

References

External links

* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/geo/gates.html The Old City Gates: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org]


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