Jaffa Gate Exterior (1)

View looking southeast at the pedestrian entrance to Jaffa Gate. The pointed–arch entrance is on the left side of the image. To the right of center note the minaret, called "David’s Tower." This is of course a misnomer. Most of the visible towers and walls date to the Ottoman Period (A.D. 1517– 1917), while the minaret itself dates to ca. 1655.

The gate is known as "Jaffa Gate" in both English and Hebrew, for the road from here leads to the port at Jaffa on the Mediterranean Sea. In Arabic the gate is called "Bab el–Khalil, "the Gate of the Friend." This is a reference to Abraham, who is called "the friend of God" (Isaiah 41:8) and from here the main road heads south to Hebron — the burial place of Abraham.

For a view of the interior of Jaffa Gate Click Here.