Antonia Fortress

Antonia Fortress

view looking northwest at the rock scarp and the Umariyya  Boys’ School.  The school itself sits on the top of the rock scarp where the Antonia Fortress used to be—at the northwest corner of the Temple Mount platform.

The Antonia Fortress was built by Herod the Great (37–4 B.C.) to look over the temple area and to guard its approach from the north.  After the death of Herod, the Roman’s maintained a garrison here to monitor activities in the temple area below.

When Paul was accosted by an angry mob he was taken into custody by the Roman garrison located in the Antonia Fortress (Acts 22:27–23:22)

For a view of how this fortress may have looked in New Testament (Second Temple) times Click Here.

For a view from the Umariyya School looking over the temple mount area click HereHere, or Here.