The Old City of Jerusalem (Hebrew: העיר העתיקה‎, HaEer HaAtika) is a walled area within modern Jerusalem and is just a 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile) in area. The small area within the walls constituted the entire city until the mid 1860s. The Old City was divided then into four quarters: the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. However, following the Israel's war of Independence, the Jordanians took control of East Jerusalem, and until the liberation of the city in 1967 Six Day War, when once again the Old City was in Jewish control, Jews were denied access not only to their homes but also the most sacred site in Judaism, the Kotel (Western Wall).  The Kotel is in the Jewish Quarter which you enter through the Zion Gate.

When the  Crusades’ Kingdom reigned over Jerusalem the walls surrounding the city had only four gates, one on each side.  However Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1580) of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, had the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt and added impressive added.  Today there are eight gates to the Old City, of which only seven are open.

 The Eight Gates of The Old Jerusalem
 

Mazor Guide to Yom Yerushalayim brings you much more about the holiday, its meaning and its traditions... See the links below.

• Yom Yerushalayim:The Reunification of Israel's Eternal Capital - Basic Information
• Yom Yerushalayim - A Time Line: Jerusalem, the Eternal Capital of Israel
• Yom Yerushalayim - How is this holiday celebrated?
• The Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem

MazorGuide Recommended Reading

  - A House of Prayer for All Nations: The Holy Temple of Jerusalem ~ by Chaim Richman
  - Letters from Jerusalem 1947-1948 (Paperback)  ~ by Zipporah Porath
  - The Story of Israel - Special Edition: From Theodor Herzl to the Roadmap for Peace ~ by Martin Gilbert
  - Tales Out of Jerusalem: Seven Gates to the City  ~ by Rabbi Emanuel Feldman