About the project
Zion Gate is a battle-scarred gate built in 1540 at the southwestern corner of the Old City on Mount Zion. The gate is known in Arabic as the Prophet David’s Gate because one passes through it to King David’s tomb on Mount Zion, and is also referred to as the Gate to the Jewish Quarter. There are references to the Gate of Zion as far back as the 10th Century, but it is not known whether this is the site of that ancient gate. Zion Gate was prominent during the War of Independence (1948), when it changed hands three times. In 1984, the Jerusalem Foundation supported a carefully designed project to renovate the gate area. Damage caused by traffic and war was repaired (though remnants of the severe shelling the gate endured in 1948 and 1967 were retained), a small plaza connecting the gate to a parking area was created, two sitting areas were built, the medieval gatehouse door that had been damaged in a severe storm in 1894 was reconstructed, and the area surrounding the gate was paved in stone.
