Jaffa Gate Moat in Jerusalem

A reader of a previous post asked a question about the breaching of the city wall near the Jaffa Gate:

Are you sure about the Jaffa Gate? Every other source I’ve read says that the the wall was breached between Jaffa Gate and David’s Citadel to allow the Kaiser’s entourage to enter the city — ie, it was not just a question of filling in the moat.

The Jaffa Gate and Moat in 1880 - Charles Wilson: Picturesque Palestine

The accompanying picture from Charles Wilson’s book Picturesque Palestine (1880), shows that the moat between the Jaffa Gate and the Citadel was the only defence in this area. On both sides of the moat, there were low walls to prevent people from falling into this moat. This low wall on the outside, or curtain wall as it is called in this report, was not a city wall and its removal can hardly be called “breaching”.

To let the Kaiser ride in on horseback, the moat was filled in and, of course, the low curtain walls were dismantled as well.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *