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Traditional Site

Bab Kisan (St. Paul's Window)

bahb kee-SAHN · Modern Southeastern Old City Wall, Damascus, Syria · Also called Bab Kisan · 33.5064° N, 36.3153° E

One of the seven ancient gates of Damascus, in the southeastern city wall, near where early Christian tradition places the window through which Paul's disciples lowered him in a basket by night to escape a plot to kill him (Acts 9:23-25; 2 Corinthians 11:32-33). A modern Melkite Greek Catholic chapel, the Chapel of St. Paul, now stands incorporating stonework from the old Roman-era gate and wall.

Archaeology

The Roman city wall and the gate's foundational masonry in this area date to the Roman period, and portions of ancient wall fabric are visible incorporated into the modern chapel built in 1939. No inscription or archaeological find ties this exact spot to Paul's escape — the association rests on an early but undatable Christian tradition, and the original Bab Kisan gate itself was largely walled up and altered over centuries of Byzantine, Islamic, and Ottoman rebuilding.