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Originally the city wall had seven gates; an eighth, aptly named New Gate, was added in the late nineteenth century in the wall's northwest sector.
The largest and most splendid of the portals is Damascus Gate. Located on the wall's northern side, it is adjacent to ruins attesting that this has been the site of the city's main entrance since ancient times. The gate's defenses include slits for firing at attackers, thick doors, and an opening from which boiling oil could be spilled on assailants below.
Israel. June 2004