31°46′40″N35°14′04″E / 31.777755530459785°N 35.23432980302291°E /31.777755530459785; 35.23432980302291Warren's Gate (Hebrew:שער וורן,romanized: Sha'ar Varen) is an ancient entrance into theTemple platform inJerusalem. Located about 150 feet (46 m) into theWestern Wall Tunnel, the gate was first described by and later named after nineteenth centuryBritish surveyorCharles Warren. During theSecond Temple period, Warren's Gate led to a tunnel and staircase at theTemple Mount.
Following theRashidun Caliphate conquest of Jerusalem from theByzantines, Jews were allowed to pray inside the tunnel, turning the location into a Jewish synagogue. When the synagogue was destroyed in theFirst Crusade during thesiege of Jerusalem in 1099, the tunnel ended up becoming a water cistern, thus its later name beingCistern 30.[1]
The area is surrounded by a vaulted 18-foot (5.5 m) tunnel.
RabbiYehuda Getz, the late official Rabbi of theWestern Wall, believed that the Gate represented the point west of the Wall closest to theHoly of Holies. An underground dispute broke out in July 1981 between Jewish explorers who were inside Warren's Gate and Arab guards who came down to meet them through surfacecistern entries.[2] A small undergroundriot commenced, but soon ended when theJerusalem police appeared at the scene, restoring peace.
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