EILAT in ISRAEL on the Red Sea

Gates of the Old City

Jaffa Gate

So named because the road leading from it goes to the port city of Jaffa (Joppa), this gate is the only one on the western side of the Old City.  

A low part of the city wall was torn down and the Crusader moat of the Citadel filled in 1898 for the visit of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II.  This gate was also the famous scene of the English General Allenby's entrance in 1917.

Damascus GateCalled the Shechem Gate by the Jews, the Arabs remember this gate as the "Gate of the Column" because of the tall pillar that stood in this gate's plaza during the Roman and Byzantine period.

Kenyon's excavations underneath this Turkish gate found remnants of a triple-arched gateway dating to the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian

(135 A.D.).

 

St. Stephen's Gate

This gate is so named because of the tradition that the first Christian martyr was stoned outside this gate.  However an earlier tradition locates this execution north of the city.

Lions' Gate is another name for this eastern entrance into the Old City because of the four animals that decorate the gate's facade and reportedly placed there because of a dream of the builder Suleiman.

 

Golden Gate

This sealed gate on the eastern side was built approximately 640 A.D. either by the last of the Byzantine rulers or by the first of the Arab conquerers.  Tradition that equates this gate with the one mentioned in Ezekiel's prophecy (ch. 44) is dubious at best. It is believed that an earlier gate is preserved underneath the current gate.

Dung Gate

Different theories account for the naming of this gate, including one which puts it back to Omar's conquest of Jerusalem in 638 A.D. when trash was cleared out of the city through this gate.  It is also known as the Gate of the Moors because of the North African immigrants who lived in a neighborhood next to the gate in the 16th century.

 

Zion Gate

Providing access to Mt. Zion, this gate bears the marks of the Arab and Israeli battles in the 1948 War of Independence.  

This gate is also known as the Gate of the Prophet David because of the traditional location of David's tomb on Mt. Zion.  During the medieval period it was called the Gate of the Jewish Quarter.

 

Mount of OlivesAlso known as Olivet, Mount Olivet

From the Kidron Valley

Separated from the Eastern Hill (the Temple Mount and the City of David) by the Kidron Valley, the Mt. of Olives has always been an important feature in Jerusalem's landscape.  From the 3rd millennium B.C. until the present, this 2900-foot hill has served as one of the main burial grounds for the city.  The two-mile long ridge has three summits each of which has a tower built on it.

 

Dome of the Ascension

The Church of the Holy Ascension was taken by Saladin in 1187 and converted into a mosque and remains such today.  It contains what is traditionally the last footprint of Jesus on earth before he ascended into heaven.

Two other places are claimed to be the location of the ascension.  Constantine's mother Helena built a church under the modern Paternoster Church to commemorate this event.  A much later tradition connects the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension to Christ's return into heaven.  

Scripture indicates that the Jesus ascended into heaven in the vicinity of Bethany.  This village is down the east slope of the Mt. of Olives about 1.5 miles (2 km).  In this case, none of the traditional locations for the ascension are correct.

 

Garden of Gethsemane

Early Christian pilgrims located the Garden of Gethsemane at the bottom of the slope of the Mt. of Olives opposite the Temple Mount.  Byzantine, Crusader and a modern church were built successively on the site where it is believed that Jesus prayed to the Father hours before his crucifixion.  The modern Church of All Nations has a beautiful mosaic on its facade. 

 

Olives Trees in Gethsemane

Adjacent to the Church of All Nations is an ancient olive garden.  Olive trees do not have rings and so their age can not be precisely determined, but scholars estimate their age to anywhere between one and two thousand years old.  It is unlikely that these trees were here in the time of Christ because of the report that the Romans cut down all the trees in the area in their siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Church of Mary Magdalene

This Russian Orthodox church was built in honor of the czar's mother in 1888 and the mosaic inside depicts the legend of Mary Magdalene presenting an egg to the Emperor Tiberius.  The egg allegedly turned red when she handed it to him, symbolic of Jesus' blood.  28 nuns from all over the world live in the convent here today.

 

Dominus Flevit Church

Built in 1955 to commemorate the Lord's weeping over Jerusalem, Dominus Flevit features a beautiful view of the city through its distinct chapel window.  Excavations during construction of the church uncovered a number of ossuaries (bone boxes) from the time of Jesus with numerous inscriptions.

 

A view of the Jewish cemetery on the slopes of Mount of Olives, as seen from the old city; On the top of the hill is the Seven Arches hotel, formerly the Intercontinental hotel.

A closer view of the vast Jewish cemetery and the old city in the background is seen below. 

"And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray".

 In the north side of the church is a garden with several ancient and large olive trees, perhaps the descendents from the original olive trees from the times of Jesus.

Ancient Olive grove in Gethsemane - in the north side of Basilica of Agony

One of the malls in Jerusalem, Ben Yehuda Street has lots of shops ranging from money changers to pharmacies to wineries. A great place to shop.

The Sea of Galilee, known to Israelis as Lake Kinneret, is the major source of fresh water for the entire country. This is also the sea where Jesus calmed the storm and where Peter walked on water.