Sha'ar Yaffo
The Jaffa Gate
Other Names:
- Jaffa Gate;
- Gate of the Friend;
- Bab al-Halil (Chevron Gate);
- The Gate of David's Prayer Shrine;
- Porta Davidi
Origin of Names:
- The road that led to Jaffa, Jerusalem's old seaport, used to run from this gate.
- Another road led to Bet Lechem and on to Chevron hence the Arab name Bab al-Halil (Chevron Gate).
- Crusader maps from the twelfth century call this gate "Porta Davidi".
- Another Arab name is "the Gate of David's Prayer Shrine" because of the nearby Tower of David.
- In Arabic it is also called 'Gate of the Friend', referring to Abraham.
Location/Direction:
- The gate is located on the west side of the Old City walls and faces due west in the direction of the port of Yafo.
- It is situated close to Migdal David (Tower of David) and leads directly into the Christian and Armenian Quarters of the Old City.
Distinctive Feature:
One small sphere on each side of the arch.
Design:
The gate has an L-shaped internal structure.
Date: 1538-40
Sha'ar Yafo is the best known and busiest of the gates.
The Jaffa Gate is beside the Citadel, the Migdal David (Tower of David).
Until 1948 it was the principal entrance to the Old City.
Sha'ar Yafo really has two entrances - the arched one and another which was built at the end of the nineteenth century to allow Kaiser Wilhelm to ride through it on his horse when he visited Jerusalem.
The gate also served as an "arch of triumph" for General Allenby of the British Army when he marched through in 1917.
