Damascus Gate

The Damascus Gate is one of the main entrances to Jerusalem's Old City along the northern wall [1] [2]. The current Ottoman structure was built under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent [1] [3]. Beneath it lies a Roman-era triumphal gate with three arched openings, dating to c. 135 AD when Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina [1] [4]. A victory column topped with Hadrian's statue once stood in the plaza behind the gate, depicted on the 6th-century Madaba Map and preserved in the Arabic name Bab al-Amud ("Gate of the Column") [1]. Excavations by Hennessy and Bennett (1964-66) and Magen (1979-84) exposed the Roman gate facade, flanking towers, and paved plaza [1].