Why is the Citadel called the “Tower of David”?

The site is called “Tower of David” because of a mistaken reading of Josephus Flavius during the Byzantine Period. The blunder continued with the Moslem designation of the Citadel as the “Michrab (prayer niche) of the Prophet David”. As years passed, visitors from Western countries transferred the misnomer to the minaret of the Turkish mosque, and the name stuck. Many places in Jerusalem are named after King David; we at the Citadel also pay homage to the city’s legendary monarch.