Zion Gate Building

Address: Zion Gate, Old City, Jerusalem, Israel

Admission: Free

Zion Gate is one of the gates in the southern wall of Jerusalem’s Old City, opening toward Mount Zion. It is a historic city gate built during the Ottoman rebuilding of the walls in the 16th century.

The gate serves as a principal pedestrian route up to Mount Zion and nearby religious sites such as the traditional location of the Last Supper (the Cenacle) and King David’s Tomb. The gate’s exterior stonework still shows pitting and marks commonly associated with mid-20th-century fighting.

Constructed as part of the city walls erected under Ottoman rule in the 16th century, the gate has been repaired and modified over time but retains its basic position and defensive form. It has been a focal point in several episodes of modern urban conflict.

Zion Gate sits in the southern section of Jerusalem’s Old City walls, between the Armenian Quarter and the Jewish and Christian quarters, and opens onto the slope that leads to Mount Zion just outside the walls.

• Visible battle damage: Several visible marks from 20th-century fighting remain on the stone and are often cited as evidence of the 1948 battle for the city.
• Access to Mount Zion: Provides direct pedestrian access from the Old City onto Mount Zion, the site of the Cenacle and King David’s Tomb a short walk beyond the gate.

Zion Gate is on the southern wall of Jerusalem’s Old City between the Armenian and Jewish Quarters. The usual approach is to enter the Old City and walk south along the market/streets from Jaffa Gate - Zion Gate is roughly a 10-15 minute walk from Jaffa Gate. You can reach the Old City on foot from central Jerusalem or by using buses/light rail to the Jaffa Road/Jaffa Gate area and then continue on foot into the Old City.

• Go early morning or late afternoon to avoid the midday heat and the largest tour groups; those quieter periods also make it easier to take in the gate's visible historic scars and memorial plaques without crowding.
• Approach from the south (Mount Zion side) rather than Jaffa Gate if your goal is a quicker entry to the Jewish and Armenian Quarters and to nearby sites like David's Tomb and the Cenacle.
• Look for the 20th-century battle damage and bullet marks on the gate's stonework-many pass through without pausing for this visible layer of modern history that explains part of the gate's significance.