In the 2nd century BCE, Jerusalem expanded to the so-called Western Hill, on which the citadel now stands. Since the site was the weak point in the city's natural defenses, its fortification was of paramount importance to successive rulers of Jerusalem, each of whom built on the ruins of the earlier structures.
The first to leave their mark on the site were the Hasmonean kings, a Jewish dynasty that reigned from the mid-2nd to the mid-1st centuries BCE. They fortified the area with an impressive wall and large watchtowers, which the historian Josephus Flavius (1st century CE) refers to as the ''First Wall''. King Herod ('the Great'), who ruled the country in the late 1st century BCE, added three massive towers to the Hasmonean fortifications. Their purpose was not only to defend the entrance to the city, but his own royal palace nearby.
Of the three towers, only one - the Tower of Phasael - has survived, and still stands to a great height today. After Herod's death, and following the ultimate destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, the site served as barracks for the Roman troops. With the adoption of Christianity as the imperial religion in the 4th century, a community of monks established itself there.
The Muslims, who conquered Jerusalem in 638 CE, took into account the strategic location, and built a fortress on the site. When the Crusaders reached the Holy City in 1099, the powerful Muslim fortress withstood their assault - one of its four towers was the Herodian 'Phasael' - and only surrendered when its defenders were guaranteed safe passage out of the city.

For the city's new masters, the site continued to fill its traditional military role. On the ruins of the old Muslim fortress, which had been damaged in the fighting, the Crusaders built a large new citadel, surrounded by a moat, which also served as the seat of the Crusader King of Jerusalem.

In the 13th century the citadel was again destroyed, and rebuilt in the 14th by the Mamluks, who ruled the country after the collapse of the Crusader kingdom. It was during this period that the citadel took on the shape familiar to visitors today. The citadel underwent further changes during the Ottoman Turkish period (1516-1917). An impressive entrance was built, behind which was a cannon emplacement. The prominent minaret was added which, in time, would become known as the 'Tower of David'. For 400 years the citadel served to garrison Turkish troops.

The British army entered Jerusalem in December 1917. It was on the platform outside the entrance to the citadel that General Allenby addressed the local inhabitants and declared freedom of worship in the Holy City. The Pro-Jerusalem Society, established by the British High Commissioner to protect the city's cultural heritage, took upon itself the responsibility for the cleaning and renovation of the neglected site.
	The citadel was eventually opened to the public as a venue for concerts, benefit events and exhibitions by local artists (see 'Tower of David Days'). In the 1930s, a museum of Palestinian folklore was opened in the citadel, displaying traditional crafts and clothing.
	After the War of Independence in 1948, the citadel reverted to its traditional role as a military position, this time of the Jordanian Arab Legion, with dominant views across the armistice line into Jewish Jerusalem.

With the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, the citadel's cultural role was revived. Extensive archaeological excavations were conducted, the stone halls were renovated and the courtyard redesigned.
The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem opened in 1989. The chambers of the citadel were converted into exhibition rooms, and the Crusader hall became the venue for changing exhibits connected to Jerusalem and its history.

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