Zion Gate (1)

The Zion Gate is located on the western portion of the southern wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. Suleiman the Magnificent originally built it in A.D. 1540. It is called "Zion Gate" for it was thought that the southern extension of this western hill was the biblical Mount Zion – a view that was in error.

In Arabic it is called "Bab Nabi Daud" (the Gate of the Prophet David). Just south of here are the traditional sites of "David’s Tomb" and the "Upper Room."

Most of the "pockmarks" in the stones are due to the heavy fighting that took place here during 1948. From 1948-1967 it was closed due to the division of Jerusalem.