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The Old City was founded around 4000 BC. The Old City is divided into four quarters: the Muslim, the Christian, the Jewish and the Armenian Quarter. The present walls surrounding the Old City were rebuilt by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century with a circumference of ca. 4 km and an average height of 12 m.
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SITES
The Gates and Walls of the Old City
The walls of the Old City constitute a living example of Arab Islamic architecture. The walls surrounding the old city were built by the Ottoman under the direct supervision of Sultan Suleiman Al Qanouni in 1542. The walls stretch for twelve miles over an area with a diameter of two miles and rise to a height of 40 feet. They contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open. • Damascus Gate: Largest gate (4.5 m in width); built by the Ottomans; gate through which the trade caravans headed to Damascus; Arabic Bab al-Amud because a square with a Roman column was located at its center. • Herod's Gate (Bab Al-Zahra): built during the Fatemiyeh period; renovated by Sultan Salah Addin Al-Ayoubi and later, in 1537 during the Ottoman period by the order of Sultan Suleiman Al-Qanouni. |
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• Jaffa Gate (Bab Al-Khalil): second largest gate; originally built by King Herod in 40-44 AD; renovated in 1538 by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman Al-Qanouni; entrance next to gate opened by Sultan Abed Al-Hamid II on the occasion of the German Emperor’s visit). • Al-Magharbeh Gate (Bab Silwan): kept closed under the Ottomans except for delivery of water from Silwan Spring; damaged during 1848 war; renovated and enlarged by the Jordanians • En-Nabi Daoud Gate (Zion Gate): renovated in 1542 by of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman Al-Qanouni. • Lions' Gate/St. Stephen's Gate: nearest to al-Aqsa mosque; built by the Mamlouk Thaher Pepres whose symbol were two lion statues fixed on top of the gate; renovated by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman Al-Qanouni. • New Gate (Abed Al-Hamid Gate): opened in 1887 by Ottoman Sultan Abed Al-Hamid II; closed after the 1948 war; reopened in 1967 after Israel occupied the Old City; youngest of all gates. · Sealed gates: Golden Gate, El-Bab El-Wahed, Triangular Gate (El-Bab El-Muthallath), and El-Bab El-Muzdawage. Holy Sepulcher Built by Emperor Constantine in 335 A.D. on the very site of Christ's resurrection, the Holy Sepulcher houses the Calvary or Golgotha and the tomb of Christ. The building was destroyed in successive wars, transformed in the Persian period and finally rebuilt by the Crusaders. A renovation project of the rotunda of the Holy Sepulcher was completed in late 1996.
Via Dolorosa Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, probably on April 7, 30 A.D. For Christians, the "Son of God" began a different era with his sacrifice announcing freedom from sin and death by his resurrection. In memory of Jesus, Christian pilgrims from all over the world travel the Via Dolorosa from Antonia, Pontius Pilate's seat of government, to the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, built on Golgotha, the "hill of the Skull". The Via Dolorosa is the route symbolizing the bearing of the cross with Christ.
• First Station: Jesus is condemned to crucifixion. Pontius Pilate, under pressure from the High Priests and the crowd, passes the death sentence while trying to dissociate himself from this judgment by washing his hands. • Second Station: Jesus bears the cross. Following flagellation, Jesus is crowned with thorns and clothed in purple as a mark of derision by the soldiers who along with crowd mocked the so-called "king of the Jews". Jesus departs for the place of execution outside the city gates. • Third Station: Jesus falls for the first time. Jesus said to his disciples: "My life, no one shall take it from me, I who shall give it". • Fourth Station: Jesus meets his mother. The prophecy Simeon made to Mary when Jesus presented himself at the temple is fulfilled: "thy son will be a sign of contradiction, and thee, a sword will pierce thy heart." • Fifth Station: Jesus is helped by Simon of Cryene. Simon is required to carry the cross at the side of Jesus; a gesture symbolizing the Christian conviction, "Thy brother is Christ". • Sixth Station: Veronica wipes Jesus' face. The cloth Veronica used held the sweat of blood which covered Jesus' face. • Seventh Station: Jesus falls for the second time. • Eighth Station: Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem. "Do not cry for me, cry rather for yourselves and your children" said Jesus. • Ninth Station: Jesus falls for the third time. • Tenth Station: Jesus is deprived of his clothes. Jesus speaks to his father through the words of the psalmist - "You wanted neither sacrifice nor obligation, you gave me one body, you did not agree on either holocaust or sacrifice, so I said, 'Here I am I come...'in order that thy will be done O lord." • Eleventh Station: Jesus is put on the cross. Jesus words resound: "And I, raised from the earth, will draw all men to me." In these words he indicated the manner of his death. • Twelfth Station: Jesus dies. The last testimony of Jesus who had said "the father and I are one" gave forth his terrible cry: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?". Then "Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up his ghost". · Thirteenth Station: Jesus, descended from the cross, is placed in his mother's arms.
• Fourteenth Station: Jesus is placed in the tomb. With Passover starting that day, Joseph of Arimethea offered his tomb, where Jesus was placed. The stone was rolled on top.
Al-Haram Ash-Sharif Covering about one-sixth of the old city of Jerusalem, the Haram Ash-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) is a concentration of some of the most magnificent architecture in the Holy Land. The Haram Ash-Sharif with its trapezoidal shape, has 15 gates for.
Dome of the Rock The most famous building in the Haram Ash-Sharif is the Dome of the Rock ("Qubbat Al-Sakhra" in Arabic) with its golden dome. Built by Abdul Malek Ibn Marwan in 692 AD, on the site from which the Prophet Mohammed rose to heaven ("Isra wa Al-Mi'raj”). The rock in the middle of the dome, where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac, symbolizes the center of the world in Muslim geography. The Faithful can make out the footprint of the Prophet, as well as the handprint of Gabriel. The cave under the rock is called the "Well of Souls', where tradition maintains the souls of the dead linger before disappearing. The external decoration of mosaics has been restored many times. Suleiman replaced the Omayyad and Ayyubid pottery with Persian ones. These gave way in 1964 to Armenian glazed tiles, surmounted by a frieze with verses from the Qur’an.
Al-Aqsa Mosque The Al-Aqsa Mosque was built by Walid Ibn Abed Al-Malik in the 8th Century (709-715 AD); reconstructed by Al-Mansur the Abbassid after its destruction in 746 AD by an earthquake. The largest mosque in Jerusalem was destroyed several times by earthquakes and now has only a few elements of its original Omayyad structure. The main part of the building is the work of the Fatimid caliph of Egypt, Al-Zahir who restored the mosque in 1035. The Crusaders and the Ayyubids performed additional modifications to the mosque, making it a mixture of architectural styles.
The mosque was called Al-Aqsa ("the furthest away" in Arabic) after the miraculous Night Journey of the Prophet Mohammad to Jerusalem as told in the Sura XVII: "Glory be to him who made His servant go by night from the sacred Temple to the farther Temple whose surroundings We have blessed." The need to counterbalance the prestige of the Byzantine masterpieces, particularly the Holy Sepulcher, was all-important in the building of this monumental mosque. The seven arches of the portico echo the seven parts of the layout of the Holy Sepulcher.
The Western Wall The Western Wall (in Islamic tradition Hait Al-Buraq) is part of a wall surrounding the Al-Aqsa compound. It is claimed that it is all that remained from the Jewish second temple after its destruction. The wall is considered the most holy site for Jews. It was built by Solomon and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, rebuilt by the Babylonian exiles and by Herod, and burned down by Titus. From the day after its destruction, Jews gathered to weep and pray on the ruins of the Temple. They later had to pay the Romans to pray there. When the cupola of the Dome of the Rock covered the ruins of the Temple, only one side of the holy structure remained. The Western Wall is the symbol of the Jewish people who believe the Shechina (Divine Presence) soars above it.
The area in front of the Wall - the Mughrabi quarter - was demolished in 1967 and turned into a plaza.
OUTSIDE THE OLD CITY:
Tomb of Virgin Mary The Tomb lies at the bottom of the Mount of Olives and is considered to be the site where the Virgin Mary was entombed. The church was rebuilt in 1130 and since then it has been shared by the Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, Copts and Muslims. The present entrance and facade is from the 12th Century. The site is venerated by Muslims since on his night journey from Medina to Jerusalem, the prophet Mohammed is said to have spotted a light over Mary's Tomb.
The Garden of Gethsemane / The Church of All Nations The Church of All Nations (also known as the Basilica of Agony) lies in the Gardens of Gethsemane, where tradition says that Jesus prayed and agonized the night before he was arrested. The garden is said to be 2000 years old and within it lie some of the worlds oldest olive trees as well as a marvelous variety of flowers. The construction of this church was completed in 1924, financed by twelve different countries (therefore the name). The present Church All Nations is built over two others, the Egenia dating from around 380, and a crusader basilica of around 1170.
The Russian Church of St. Mary Magdalene Built in 1888 by Czar Alexander III in memory of his mother the Empress Maria Alexandrona. It has a Russian Moscow style of architecture and is distinguished by seven golden onion-shaped cupolas. Within the church complex is a convent which has one of Jerusalem's most outstanding choirs.
POLITICAL ISSUES
• Inside the Old City and in the adjacent Silwan village extremist Jewish settler groups are taking over Palestinian houses.
• The ‘Judaization’ of Jerusalem: in and around Jerusalem there are numerous Israeli settlements. The Israeli government has recently increased its settlement activity in the city and is pursuing far-reaching plans to encircle Jerusalem so as to cut it off from its Palestinian hinterland as well as from the nearby town of Bethlehem.
• The confiscation of Palestinian Jerusalemite ID cards by various means in order to contain the growth of the Palestinian inhabitants of the city.
• The closure of Jerusalem (with its economic, political, and social implications).
• The construction of Israel’s illegal Separation Wall around the city. |