The gates of the Old city

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About attractions

Outside the walls of the Old city are 8 gates. Each has its own history and value.
The Damascus Gate (also known as Shumskie, or Column) – the entrance to the Muslim part of the city. Considered to be the most beautiful of all. To our days have survived the construction of the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. With this gate began the road to Damascus and Shechem. The column name given by the Arabs, behind a pillar, from which the legend has measured the distance to other cities.
The Jaffa Gate is the most famous. There are endless pilgrimage, the start of numerous excursions around the city. The name of the gate was after the port of Jaffa on the Mediterranean sea – from them, according to legend, originated the road in the direction of the port. Gates were expanded in order they were able to drive the chariot of king William II in the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century through them was General Allenby, after he defeated the Turkish troops.
The King David's gate (Zion Gate) – located in the vicinity of mount Zion, are in the Jewish part of the Old city. The last building dated to the era of Suleiman the Magnificent. Riddled with bullet holes, received during the War for independence, the gates at the time were only of secondary importance. They were used for visits to Holy places on Mount Zion, or hike to the cemetery.
Manure, or waste Gates have the smallest size and is the entrance into the Muslim quarter. It got its name because in them was taken out the garbage on a city dump. Locals often call them by the name of a nearby settlement – Shiloah. They had very modest dimensions, were later expanded by the Jordanians to a size that allows the passage of vehicles.
The largest number of official names have Lion's gate. They are also called Gethsemane, Sheep, Gates of the virgin Mary, the Gate of Stepanovym. According to the legend, it was here that he was martyred Saint Stephen. The legend also States that Jesus entered Jerusalem before his execution it is through Gethsemane's gate, and the famous Via Dolorosa – the street in the Old city of Jerusalem, on which laid the path of Jesus to the place of crucifixion, originates from this very place. From this gate you can get into the Muslim part of the city, also close to the Tomb of the virgin Mary.
The Herod's gate (gate of Lunatics, Flower Gate) - the entrance to the Muslim quarter. Decoration of floral garlands gave its second name a free - Flower, and the erroneous assumption about the location of the nearby homes the son of Herod the Great – the first Gate of Lunatics. Another legend says that once at the gates planted a huge number of colors, hence the name. The gate of the Lunatics call them Arabs, near old cemetery.
New Gates (or gate of Hamid) – built by Sultan al Hamid in the nineteenth century. But their name is that originally the gates were designed and built to "unload" the Jaffa gate, at the entrance from new town. This gate leads straight to the Christian quarter of the city.
The only walled gate – gate of Mercy or the Golden gate. According to legend, it was through this gate needs to get into the city Messiah. To prevent the passage of the Messiah, the soldiers of Suleiman the Great had laid the stones of the gate, thereby blocking the path to the future advent of the prophet. Located under the gate the cemetery is considered by the Jews "unclean place", and Christians believe that it is through this gate entered the city on a white donkey Jesus.