The Tripartite Gate

It is one of the closed gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, located close to the middle of the southern wall of Al-Aqsam which merges with the wall of Jerusalem in that area. The remnants of this gate are still visible to people from the outside. It is a gate with three contiguous entries which view the house of the Umayyad Emirate and Castles located to the south of Al-Aqsa. It also leads to the western wall of the Al-Marwani Mosque located inside Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It was built by the Ummayads, during the era of Abdul Malik Bin Marwan, in order to reach the mosque located under the southeastern yard of Al-Aqsa Mosque, which used to be known as the “Eastern Settlement.” The gate remained opened until the time of Crusaders, who used the Settlement as a stable for horses. However, when Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyoubi came, he cleaned it, renovated it and closed the Tripartite Gate so as to protect the mosque and the city from the invasion.