Hadrian's Gate to Aelia Capitolina

The visitor who enters the Old City through the Damascus Gate rarely notices the gate beneath.  This gate has been identified as Hadrian's Gate.  

Roman Emperor Hadrian rebuilt the city some sixty years after Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE.  While the city had no walls, this gate opened onto the Cardo of the new city.

Today I stopped and took notice of Hadrian's Gate.  I pondered Aelia Capitolina and the pain that it must have brought to God's people who could not enter with joy.  In fact, this new city's construction brought about the Second Jewish Revolt.