What is "golden gate"

The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden Gate, as it is called in Christian literature, is the only eastern gate of the Temple Mount and one of only two that used to offer access into the city from that side. It has been walled up since medieval times, in fulfilment of prophecy (Ezekiel 44:1-3). The date of its construction is disputed and no archaeological work is allowed at the gatehouse, but opinions are shared between a late Byzantine and an early Umayyad date.

The Hebrew name of the Golden Gate is Sha'ar HaRachamim (שער הרחמים), Gate of Mercy. In Jewish sources the eastern gate of the Temple compound is called the Shushan Gate. If the Golden Gate does preserve the location of the Shushan Gate, which is only a presumption with no archaeological proof, this would make it the oldest of the current gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls. According to Jewish tradition, the Shekhinah (שכינה) (Divine Presence) used to appear through the eastern Gate, and will appear again when the Anointed One (Messiah) comes (Ezekiel 44:1–3) and a new gate replaces the present one; that might be why Jews used to pray in medieval times for mercy at the former gate at this location, another possible reason being that in the Crusader period, when this habit was first documented, they were not allowed into the city where the Western Wall is located. Hence the name "Gate of Mercy".

In Christian apocryphal texts, the gate was the scene of the meeting between the parents of Mary after the Annunciation, so that the gate became the symbol of the virgin birth of Jesus and Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate became a standard subject in cycles depicting the Life of the Virgin. It is also said that Jesus passed through this gate on Palm Sunday, giving it also a Christian messianic importance beside the Jewish one. Some equate it with the Beautiful Gate mentioned in Acts 3.

In Arabic, it is known as Bab al-Dhahabi, also written Bab al-Zahabi, meaning "Golden Gate"; another Arabic name is the Gate of Eternal Life. Additionally, for Muslims each of the two doors of the double gate has its own name: Bab al-Rahma, "Gate of Mercy", for the southern one, and Bab al-Taubah, the "Gate of Repentance", for the northern one.

The Golden Gate is the strait connecting the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco Bay.

It can also refer to:

thumb|right|200px|Langgasser Tor in 1687

The Golden Gate (Polish: Złota Brama; German: Langgasser Tor) in Gdańsk (former German name: Danzig), Poland, is one of the most notable tourist attractions of the city.

It was created in 1612–14 in place of a 13th-century gothic gate, the Brama Długouliczna (Long Street Gate). It is located at one end of Long Lane (ulica Długa; ), where, together with Brama Wyżynna (German: Hohes Tor = High Gate) and Wieża Więzienna (German: Stockturm = Prison Tower), it forms a part of the old city fortifications.

It was designed by architect Abraham van den Blocke and was built by Jan Strakowski. The architectural style of the gate is Dutch mannerism. Next to it is the late-gothic building of the Brotherhood of St.George.

Both sides of the gate have attiques, with figures symbolizing the qualities of the ideal citizen. They were designed in 1648 by Jeremias Falck ("Polonus"), and reconstructed in 1878 due to the originals being damaged by weathering over time.

From the West side they represent (in Latin): Pax (Peace), Libertas (Freedom), Fortuna (Wealth) and Fama (Fame). From the East (Long Lane) side they are Concordia (Agreement), Iustitia (Justice), Pietas (Piety) and Prudentia (Prudency). The Latin inscription on the gates reads: Concordia res publicæ parvæ crescunt – discordia magnæ concidunt ("In agreement small republics grow, because of disagreement great republics fall").

The gate was largely destroyed by Soviet shelling in World War II, but was rebuilt in 1957. Although most artifacts of Germanness were eradicated after the city became Polish in 1945, an original German inscription on the gate was restored in the 1990s: ("They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces." – Psalm 122)

The Golden Gate was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe). It ran between Oakland and Bakersfield, California; its bus connections provided service between San Francisco and Los Angeles via California's San Joaquin Valley.

Golden Gate is a 1994 film produced by American Playhouse. Set in San Francisco, California, it is the story of a 1950s G-Man (played by Matt Dillon) who gets involved with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Communist prosecutions, which leads him to become involved with a young Chinese American woman (played by Joan Chen), whose father he helped to put in prison. The film also features Bruno Kirby and Tzi Ma. The film is directed by John Madden and written by Asian American dramatist David Henry Hwang.

The film is available on videocassette and DVD.

The Golden Gate score was composed by Elliot Goldenthal in 1993 and released in 1994 for the Golden Gate film.