JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - DECEMBER 8: The Dung Gate, entrance to the Old City near the Western Wall on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel on December 8, 2016; Shutterstock ID 575368675; Your name (First / Last): Lauren Keith; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Israel Update 2017

Shutterstock / alefbet

Dung Gate

Jerusalem

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The most convenient Old City gate for access to the Western Wall. The popular theory as to how this unflattering appellation came about is that at one time the gate was the exit through which refuse was hauled out of the walled city to be burned.

Presently the smallest of the city’s gates, at one time Dung Gate was even more diminutive: the Jordanians widened it during their tenure in the city to allow cars through (these days, tour buses make frequent use of it).

In Hebrew it’s Sha’ar HaAshpot (Refuse Gate), while its Arabic name, Bab Al Maghariba (Gate of the Moors), is a nod to the North African immigrants who lived nearby in the 16th century.

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