Zion Gate by night

.
On a cold and rainy night last week we walked out of the Old City of Jerusalem through the Zion Gate.
But not until this little car exited. There is no room for both pedestrians and a car.
The bigger cars have to maneuver, with at least one backing-up, through the angled gate.
.
They can blame the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. He built the city wall (on top of a much older one) in 1540.
He made the Zion Gate, as well as the Jaffa and Damascus Gates, angled in order to prevent invaders from charging straight through.

Archers could shoot arrows from the top of the wall.
Through the opening just above the arch the defenders could pour boiling tar or oil on an attacking enemy.
Iron rods could be pushed out from the long slits on the left and right of the gate to stop enemy chariots.
The sharp turn to the right made it hard for horsemen holding a sword or javelin in their right hand to overcome defenders on the inside attacking them from their left.
.
Even in modern times the Zion Gate has suffered, as the many bullet holes from the 1948 War of Independence testify.


The pavement around the gate, when wet, is only slightly less slippery than it looks.
.
Zion Gate underwent six months of restoration in 2008. A good photo of the work on the Sultan's dedicatory plaque is here.
Wikipedia has a brief history of the gate.
.
Hope you enjoyed your night journey to the Holy City.
For more tours around the blog world, check in to That's My World Tuesday tonight.
.