The Tower of David dominates the Old City from the highest point in the area. Since the second century BCE this fortress served as Jerusalem's defense against invasion from the north and the west - the city's strategic weak points. Because of this, and because each new generation saw it as the symbol of Jerusalem, every ruler of the city fortified and rebuilt it, seeking to outdo his predecessors. The fortress in its present form dates from the Mamluke period and was renovated by the Ottomans. It was the latter who also built the mosque, its minaret towering over the fortress's western side and creating the distinctive profile. Nineteenth-century European travelers called the minaret the "Tower of David" |
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