Walls of Jerusalem

Walls of Jerusalem
UNESCO World Heritage Site
LocationJerusalem
Part ofOld City of Jerusalem and its Walls
CriteriaCultural: (ii), (iii), (vi)
Reference148rev
Inscription1981 (5th Session)
Endangered1982–...
Coordinates31°47′N 35°13′E / 31.783°N 35.217°E / 31.783; 35.217
Site proposed by Jordan
The 16th century walls of Jerusalem, with the Jerusalem Citadel minaret

The Walls of Jerusalem (Hebrew: חומות ירושלים, Arabic: أسوار القدس) surround the Old City of Jerusalem (approx. 1 km2). In 1535, when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the ruined city walls to be rebuilt. The walls were constructed between 1537 and 1541.[1][2] The walls are visible on most old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years.[example needed]

The length of the walls is 4,018 meters (2.497 miles), their average height is 12 meters (39 feet) and the average thickness is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet). The walls contain 34 watchtowers and seven main gates open for traffic, with two minor gates reopened by archaeologists.

In 1981, the Jerusalem walls were added, along with the Old City of Jerusalem, to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.[3]

  1. ^ Jerome Murphy-O’Connor (2008). The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. Oxford Archaeological Guides. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-19-923666-4. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Aerial Ride for Every Venue". Rollglider. 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  3. ^ "WH Committee: 1st Extraordinary Session, Paris 1981". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 1981-09-30. Retrieved 2023-02-28.