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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Jerusalem reopens popular Old City gate

Jaffa Gate (Gate of the Friend, Chevron Gate, ...Image via Wikipedia

clipped from news.yahoo.com
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, right, stands inside the newly renovated Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem's Old city, Wednesday, April 21, 2010. Jaffa Gate, one of

JERUSALEM – Israel reopened a 16th-century gate to Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday, completing a two-month renovation and cleaning project that drew criticism from Palestinian officials.

Jaffa Gate, one of four main entrances to the Old City, was built by Jerusalem's Ottoman rulers and inaugurated in 1538. It is the most common entrance for tourists entering the walled Old City — home to key holy sites in Christianity, Islam and Judaism, as well as a popular outdoor marketplace.

The restoration was part of a $4 million project launched by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2007 to spruce up all two and a half miles (four kilometers) of the Old City's walls.

The portal stands at a right angle to the western exterior wall of the Old City, made of the same large, 16th-century sand-colored hewn stone blocks. The entrance is about 20 feet (6 meters) high, and the wall rises another 20 feet (6 meters) above it.

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