Shuja'iyya
الشجاعية | |
---|---|
Neighborhood | |
Shuja'ia | |
Coordinates: 31°30′02″N 34°28′12″E / 31.50056°N 34.47000°E | |
Country | Palestine |
Governorate | Gaza Governorate |
City | Gaza |
Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | +3 |
Shuja'iyya (Arabic: الشجاعية), also Shejaiya, Shijaiyeh, Shujayya, Shuja'ia, Shuja'iya, is the southern quarter of Old City of Gaza, and the only quarter of the Old City located outside the historical city walls.[1] It is one of the largest neighborhoods in Gaza, once holding 92,000[2] to 100,000[3] residents. It is located east of Gaza's city center, and its nucleus is situated on a hill located across the main Salah al-Din Road that runs north-south throughout the Gaza Strip. Shuja'iyya contains several ancient structures, mosques and tombs.[4] The Commonwealth War Cemetery is located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the commercial center of the neighborhood.[5]
The old city of Gaza, where all the remnants of the ancient, medieval and early Ottoman city are found, is divided into four quarters, a few of which are subdivided. Three of these quarters (at-Tuffäh, ad-Daraj, and az-Zaytun) were within the walls of the ancient city. The southeastern quarter, as-Saja'iyyah, developed later than the others, mainly outside these walls… The four quarters of the city are as follows… The last Quarter in the southeast (generally east): Hãrat (or Flayy) as-Sajaiyyah… As mentioned, this quarter developed in the Middle Ages mainly outside the city walls… being built outside the wall, it had extensive possibilities to develop and become the largest quarter of the city, surpassing the Zaytun Quarter. The Sajaiyyah is subdivided into two parts: al-Judaydah (coll. Judeideh/Jdeideh) or Saja'iyyat al-Akrād (the Saja'iyyah of the Kurds) in the northeast, and at-Turkmän in the south.