Bab Sharqi
Bab Sharqi ( Arabic باب شرقي, DMG Bāb Šarqī ; Latin Porta Solis / Porta Orientalis ; German: "Gate of the Sun", "Eastern Gate") is one of the seven ancient city gates of the Syrian capital Damascus and the only original gate from Roman times that has been preserved . It bounds the straight street ( Via Recta ), which runs in an east-west direction through the old city of Damascus , to the east. The current name refers to the location in the east of the old town . The surrounding Christian district is named after the gate . The large facade of the gate was restored in the 1960s.
history
The Gate of the Sun, as it was called during the Roman Empire, dates from around the year 200. Damascus was conquered by Muslim armies around 634 . In the course of the conquest of the city, the general Chālid ibn al-Walīd entered Damascus through this gate on September 18, 634. The gate, like many three-lane Roman gates, was very unfavorable from the point of view of defense. In the 12th century, under the rule of Nur ad-Din , the gate was therefore partially built up and only the central opening was preserved and transformed into an angled entrance. A minaret was also added.
architecture
The gate has few structures that could serve as a defense, but it was possibly reinforced by defensive towers on the sides. It shows only minimal building plastic . The only decoration is the high pilasters . With a width of 26 m, the gate spanned a large access road, the Roman survey axis ( Decumanus ) and the so-called Via Recta (straight road; Arabic الشارع المستقيم, al-Shari al-Mustaqīm), which became the main thoroughfare of the city. This street had a car lane in the middle, with a width of 14 m for all cars, as well as two pedestrian crossings covered with colonnades . Remnants of the colonnades have been preserved inside the gate. Straight Street still connects the east gate of the city with the west gate, the Bab al-Jabiyya .
Attractions
The Armenian Apostolic Saint Sarkis Cathedral is located directly at the city gate . Not far away is the Melkite Al-Zeitoun Church . The house of Saint Ananias , which also serves as a Roman Catholic church, is located on Hanania Street, named after the saint, a little north of Bab Sharqi.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Ross Burns: Damascus: A History. Routledge 2005: 55-56. ISBN 0-415-27105-3
- ↑ a b Richard Wallace; Wynne Williams: The Three Worlds of Paul of Tarsus. Routledge 1998: 163. ISBN 0-415-13592-3
- ↑ Ross Burns: Damascus: A History. Routledge 2005: 99. ISBN 0-415-27105-3
- ^ Yasser Tabbaa: Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo. Penn State Press 1997: 68. ISBN 0-271-01562-4
Web links
Coordinates: 33 ° 30 ′ 34 ″ N , 36 ° 19 ′ 4 ″ E