🕌 *AL-AQSA EXPLAINED #4 | 12 Gates & 4 Minarets - The Forgotten Edges*
Everyone photographs the domes. No one documents the walls. But the walls tell you who ruled Jerusalem.
*12 GATES (10 Open / 2 Closed)*
*North & East Side:*
*1. Bab al-Asbat (Gate of Tribes)* - North, also called Lions Gate. Main entrance today.
*2. Bab Hitta* - North, one of the oldest, small and humble.
*3. Bab al-Ghawanima* - Northwest.
*4. Bab al-Atm (Dark Gate)* - North, also called Faisal Gate.
*5. Bab al-Dhahabi (Golden Gate)* - East, CLOSED. Legend says a Muslim conqueror will enter from it. Sealed by Ottomans.
*6. Bab al-Jana'iz (Funerals Gate)* - East, CLOSED. Used for funerals.
*West & South Side (Western Wall side):*
*7. Bab al-Nazir (Council Gate)* - West
*8. Bab al-Hadid (Iron Gate)* - West
*9. Bab al-Qattanin (Cotton Merchants Gate)* - West, the most beautiful Mamluk gate in Jerusalem. Masterpiece of muqarnas.
*10. Bab al-Mutahara (Purification Gate)* - West, near ablution area.
*11. Bab al-Silsilah (Chain Gate)* - West
*12. Bab al-Magharibah (Moroccan Gate)* - Southwest, the only non-Muslim access point today.
*4 MINARETS - All Mamluk, All 13th-14th Century*
The Mamluks didn't build mosques inside Al-Aqsa. They framed it.
*1. Bab al-Ghawanima Minaret (1297 CE)* - Northwest corner. Tallest at ∼37m. Six levels, square base, slender shaft. Built by Qadi Sharaf al-Din.
*2. Bab al-Silsilah Minaret (1329 CE)* - West wall near Chain Gate. Square base, octagonal shaft. Built by Tankiz al-Nasiri. Also called Courthouse Minaret.
*3. Bab al-Magharibah Minaret (1278 CE)* - Southwest. Square base, three levels. Built by Sultan Lajin. Also called Fakhriyya Minaret.
*4. Bab al-Asbat Minaret (1367 CE)* - Northeast. Simpler square design. Built by Amir Qutlubugha. Also called Salahi Minaret.
*Architectural Style:* All Mamluk style - square stone base, delicate stonework, simple balconies, crenellated top. No Ottoman pencil minarets here.
*Architect's lesson:*
In Al-Aqsa, the minarets are not decorative. They are corner markers. They define a 144,000 sqm territory. The gates are not doors. They are political statements - who gets to enter, from where, and why two gates remain forever closed.
If you design a large complex, design its edges first.
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