Bab al-Nasr

The northern mouth of the walled city. The gate was once called Bab al-Yahud: Jewish shops lay inside it and the Jewish cemetery outside. In 1212 az-Zahir Ghazi demolished the gate, rebuilt it and renamed it Bab al-Nasr, the Gate of Victory. From then on this was the busiest entrance on the north side.

Getting there

Walk north-west from the citadel towards Khandaq Street; the gate stands on the south side of it. The Mahmandar Mosque is about 200 metres south-west and Sahat al-Hatab some 500 metres north-west.

What to see

A deep pointed-arch recess with studded iron leaves below it. The long inscription band set inside the arch is the real piece: the letters are carved in relief and large enough to read from street level. The facade was altered in Ottoman times, and mid-20th-century town planning changed the ground around the gate as well.

Don’t miss

The gate was not one opening but three. The middle one still stands, but you cannot see it: its arch has been turned into a shop and the shop’s ceiling covers the top. You will not notice it without asking.

Today

The gate took moderate damage in the war and was repaired by a local committee in 2018. Booksellers and printing shops line the square in front. In the Bab al-Nasr souq around it, leather and yarn are sold, and some workshops still keep their looms.