In Pics: Jerusalem walls offer glimpse of city’s richness

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What would Jerusalem be without its walls? Poets have sung of them since ancient times, they are mentioned in the Book of Psalms, and they have shadowed conflicts past and present.

The current golden limestone walls date back to the 16th century. Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the iconic ramparts built after his father, Selim the Grim, brought Jerusalem under Turkish rule in 1517.

The city remained under Ottoman rule for 400 years, until British Gen. Edmund Allenby marched through the Jaffa Gate on Dec. 11, 1917, the start of 30 years of British rule.

Over the course of its tumultuous 3,000-year history, Jerusalem’s Old City has had many masters, from the ancient Persians and Babylonians all the way up to the modern states of Jordan and Israel. There have been almost as many walls, some torn down by wars or earthquakes.

Today, the 2.5-mile (4 kilometer) circuit around the Old City walls brings visitors face-to-face with Jews, Muslim and Christian Arabs, Armenians, men and women of the cloth and tourists from around the globe.

But the Old City, its walls and its famed religious sites — holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims — are once again at the heart of a renewed conflict. Both Israel and the Palestinians lay claim to the 215 acres (less than one square kilometer) bound by the walls.

Palestinians ride on horses during the Eid al-Fitr holiday outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem

Palestinians celebrates the Eid al-Fitr holiday outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem

People walk along the Jerusalem’s Old City walls, next to Jaffa Gate

Palestinians ride on horses during the Eid al-Fitr holiday outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem

Members of Holy Land Bikers group gather in Jerusalem Old City before riding their motorbikes to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve

A man prays facing Jerusalem’s Old City walls between Jaffa Gate and Zion Gate

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man plays his Violin during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem Old City

A young girl waits for her family to cross the Zion Gate in Jerusalem Old City

Israeli Arab Christian school kids play on inflatables games in De La Salle school basketball yard surrounded by the Jerusalem’s Old City walls next to the New Gate in Jerusalem Old City

Israeli Police officers search a Palestinian man next to the New Gate in Jerusalem Old City

Palestinians ride on horses during the Eid al-Fitr holiday outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem

An Israeli soldier on their weekend time off carrying their unloaded M-16 rifle as they tour in Jerusalem Old City

A view of Jerusalem Old City and Damascus Gate

A woman plays on a Harp at Jaffa Gate In Jerusalem Old City

People walk in and out Jerusalem’s Old City seen trough the Old city walls in Jaffa Gate

Israelis carry national flags outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, during Jerusalem Day which marks the 50th anniversary of Israel’s capture of the city’s eastern half from Jordanian control in 1967

Palestinians pray as Israeli border police officers stand guard at the Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City

A view of Jerusalem Old City seen from the Jerusalem Ramparts Walk

People buy from a grocery store located between Damascus Gate and the Flowers Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City

People tour the Jerusalem Ramparts Walk on Jerusalem’s Old City walls

Israel captured the Old City, which was part of Jordanian-controlled east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel later annexed the entirety of east Jerusalem, a move which the international community doesn’t recognize. Palestinians seek east Jerusalem and the Old City as the capital of their future state.

These conflicting claims have erupted into violence numerous times in the past. On Dec. 6, President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital, enraging Palestinians and much of the Muslim world. Although Trump said his declaration did not prejudge the outcome of negotiations on the city’s final borders, it was seen by the Palestinians as siding with Israel and led to several weeks of violence.

But in the shadow of the walls, day-to-day life flourishes. Families picnic, worshippers pray, hawkers peddle souvenirs and snacks, and artists use the sand-hued stone as their canvas.