What is Jerusalem’s Golden Gate?:
The wall surrounding Jerusalem’s Old City has 11 gates, seven of which are open: Jaffa, Zion, Dung, St. Stephen’s (Lions’), Herod’s, Damascus (Shechem) and New. The most famous of all Jerusalem’s gates may be the Golden Gate, which is sealed.
When was Jerusalem’s Golden Gate built?:
The Golden Gate we can see now was originally built around 640 CE by either the last of the Byzantine rulers or the earliest Arab conquerors. References to some sort of gate located on the eastern wall of Jerusalem and near the Temple can be traced back much farther. When Herod rebuilt the Temple area, he probably rebuilt a gate here, but that would have been destroyed by Titus in 70 CE.
Where is Jerusalem’s Golden Gate?:
The Golden Gate can be found on the eastern wall of Jerusalem and below the Temple Mount. It faces the western slope of the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley. In the valley below is the road to Jericho and Bethany, the Garden of Gethsemane, and several famous first-century tombs.
Why is Jerusalem’s Golden Gate important?:
The Golden Gate is unusual in that it is sealed so that no one can pass through it today. Why is the Golden Gate sealed? Jewish tradition has it that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem via this gate when he comes, so Muslims during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) sealed the Golden Gate to keep him out.
