Lions' Gate

31°46′51″N 35°14′13″E / 31.78083°N 35.23694°E / 31.78083; 35.23694Completed1538/9 (AH 945)^[1]Renovated2012^[2]DimensionsOther dimensionsHeight: 13.7 m (45 ft)^[3]

Lions' Gate (Hebrew: שער האריות, romanized: Sha'ar ha-Arayot, lit. 'Lions' Gate', Arabic: باب الأسباط, romanized: Bab al-Asbat, lit. 'Gate of the Tribes'), also St Stephen's Gate, is one of the seven open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It leads into the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.

History

The start of the traditional Christian observance of the last walk of Jesus from prison to crucifixion, the Via Dolorosa, begins at the Lions' Gate, called St Stephen's Gate by Christians. Carved into the wall above the gate are four lions, two on the left and two on the right. Suleiman the Magnificent had the carvings made to celebrate the Ottoman defeat of the Mamluks in 1517. Legend has it that Suleiman's predecessor Selim I dreamed of lions that were going to eat him because of his plans to level the city. He was spared only after promising to protect the city by building a wall around it. This led to the lion becoming the heraldic symbol of Jerusalem.^{[4][dubious – discuss]}

Historian Moshe Sharon notes the similarity of the sculpted felines to similar pairs at Jisr Jindas and Qasr al-Basha in Gaza. All represent the same Mamluk sultan, Baibars. Sharon estimates that they all date to approximately 1273 C.E.^[5]

The gate is part of the city's extant walls, built by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman in 1538. The walls stretch for approximately 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) and rise to a height of 5–15 meters (16–49 ft), with a thickness of 3 meters (9.8 feet).^[6] All together, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open.

In 1967, it was through this gate that Israeli paratroopers broke into the Old City of Jerusalem, occupied, along with the rest of East Jerusalem and the whole West Bank, from Jordan at the time.^[7]

• 
  Detail of Lions' Gate carvings, actually leopards^[8] (panthers).^[4]
• 
  British imperial troops from India and Britain guard the gate in 1920

See also

• Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem

References

Bibliography

External links

Christianity

"Status Quo"	Church of the Holy Sepulchre Deir es-Sultan Chapel of Saint Helena Via Dolorosa See also: New Church of the Theotokos
Catholic	Latin (Patriarch) Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Franciscans (Custos) Monastery of Saint Saviour Monastery of the Flagellation Church of the Condemnation Church of the Flagellation Chapel of Simon of Cyrene Convent of the Sisters of Zion Church of Saint Anne Church of the Holy Family Defunct Church of Saint James Intercisus Church of Saint Mary of the Germans Church of Saint Mary of the Latins Templum Domini Melkite Catholic (Patriarch) Cathedral of the Annunciation Armenian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Sorrows Maronite Catholic Maronite Convent
Eastern Orthodox	Greek Orthodox (Patriarch) Church of Saint John the Baptist
Oriental Orthodox	Armenian Orthodox (Patriarch) Cathedral of Saint James Church of the Holy Archangels Church of Saint Toros Syriac Orthodox Monastery of Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox (Archbishop) Deir es-Sultan
Protestant	Anglican Communion Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East Christ Church Lutheran Protestant Church in Germany Church of the Redeemer

Islam
(Sunni Islamic
Grand Mufti)

Al-Aqsa (Waqf)	Qibli Mosque Dome of the Ascension Dome of the Chain Dome of al-Khidr Dome of al-Khalili Dome of the Prophet Dome of the Rock Dome of Yusuf Madrasa Al-Ashrafiyya Marwani Mosque
Other mosques	Al-Buraq Mosque Al-Yaqoubi Mosque Al-Khanqah al-Salahiyya Mosque Mosque of Omar Al Dissi Mosque Sidna Omar Mosque

Judaism
(Sephardic/Ashkenazi
Chief Rabbis)

General	Southern Wall Western Wall Western Wall Tunnel Little Western Wall
Orthodox Jewish	Ramban Synagogue Ari Synagogue Four Sephardic Synagogues Ohr ha-Chaim Synagogue Tzuf Dvash Synagogue Hurva Synagogue Ohel Yitzchak Synagogue Defunct Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue