باب الخليل
In the late 19th century, the area around the Old City walls was barren and undeveloped. It was only notable for the junction of paths that would become Jaffa Road and the highway to Jaffa, with the road to Hebron outside the Jaffa Gate. Among its first structures was the "Hospice Saint Vincent de Paul", part of the emerging French Compound. The early building developed as an extension of the adjacent souk along the city walls at the Jaffa Gate as a quarter for merchants and artisans. It became home for commerce and residences that could not find room within the overcrowded Old City, and several of Jerusalem's prominent modern businesses, like Hotel Fast, were first built here. In 1908, the Ottoman authorities erected a clock tower above Jaffa Gate. The British removed it a decade later.