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The Western Wall (Kotel) is constructed of limestone. The edges of the stones have a kind of chiseled border around them, a design typical of King Herod (first century BCE) who built the wall as a retaining wall for the Temple Mount. Notice that there is no cement or mortar holding them together. As you look up, the stones get smaller. This is because stones were added over the centuries. The base of the wall is actually about twenty feet below ground.
One of the stones is more than 40 feet long, and weighs 400 tons. This is the largest stone ever quarried by man - nothing near its size exists in Greece, in the pyramids, or in Manhattan. No crane today can even lift such a stone. How it got there is an engineering marvel. Others stones are over 100 tons. These stones can be viewed in the archeological tunnels that have been opened in the past few years.
One theory is that the quarry was located to the north of the Temple Mount and at a higher elevation, so that the builders could push the stones into place using the lever and pulley systems existent at the time. Leave a Comment Directions: Old City, Jerusalem
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 by jadedmuse
Mount is the focal point of Creation.
In the center of the mountain lies the
"Foundation Stone" of the world.
Here Adam came into being.
Here Abraham, Isaac and Jacob served God.
The First and Second Temples were built
upon this mountain.
The Ark of the Covenant was set upon the
Foundation Stone itself.
Jerusalem was chosen by God as the dwelling
place of the Shechinah.
David longed to build the Temple, and
Solomon his son built the First Temple here
about 3000 years ago.
It was destroyed by Nevuchadnezzar
of Babylon.
The Second Temple was rebuilt on its ruins
seventy years later.
It was razed by the Roman legions over
1900 years ago.
The present Western Wall before you is a
remnant of the western Temple Mount
retaining walls.
Jews have prayed in its shadow for
hundreds of years, an expression of their
faith in the rebuilding of the Temple.
The Sages said about it: "The Divine Presence
never moves from the Western Wall."
The Temple Mount continues to be the focus
of prayer for Jews from all over the world." Leave a Comment Directions: In the Old City Jerusalem
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 by jadedmuseLeave a Comment Directions: In the Old City Jerusalem
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 by jadedmuse
To get to the Western Wall, you must pass through the Israeli guards, where you'll be frisked and your backpack or purse searched. This is not because it's a dangerous area to be - it's just a standard security precaution for which I am appreciative. Once you pass Security, you'll be walking across the open plaza where straight ahead and beyond some buildings, you can see a glimpse of the Dome of the Rock.
To your right is the famous Western Wall (dubbed Wailing Wall both for the tragedies that have befallen it and its people, as much as for the actual crying that goes on there today). I was so excited to be there that I charged right through to the men's section - I had no idea it is cordoned off by gender! When I crossed over to my designated "womens' section", I went right up to the wall (sometimes if it's crowded, you have to search for your little piece!) and passed my hand across it, trying to absorb what centuries of mystery and history can transmit to the human soul in search of itself and its Maker....I lay my face against the wall and breathed in the smell of it and the sounds of the other women praying and touching it and the reverberations of the hundreds of hopes and wishes pinned against it....it really can move you to tears. Leave a Comment Directions: In the Old City Jerusalem
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 people dancing in front of the
western wall by ophiro
The wall is something like 20 meters high and is very close to the muslim's holy place Al-aqsa mosque and the dome of the rock.
Jews from Israel and from all over the world come to pray in this place , they put a small paper with a wish for god.
btw - this is also a holy place for the muslims because Muhamed the prophet came here and his horse stayed here while he went to the Al Aqsa mosque and they call it Al Buraq.
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 Man praying against the Wall by mafi_moya
On Shabbat thousands of people pray in what is effectively an open-air synagogue, but during the weekdays it's quieter and a bit less impressive. Many worshippers write prayers and messages on paper and stick them between the cracks of the enormous building blocks. Many of the more religious visitors do actually wail and cry as they sink their heads against the rock face.
It's open 24 hours a day, with separate entrances for men and women. Leave a Comment
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 Women section by Carmela71
Jews from all over the world for centuries come here to pray and mourn as well as to tuck their written pleas and prayers into its crevices. (Or order them via email or fax!)
You need to cover yourself here as well.
The wall is a part of the Temple Mount built by Herod the Great
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Rooms and public halls were discovered, as well as a section of a Second Temple road, a Hasmonean water tunnel, a pool, and many other finds.
Here is a domain rich in roots - it was on this mountain that Avraham was worned not to "lift your hand against the youth". Issac. Here, at the foot of the Temple Mount, one can hear the songs and music of the Levites. The courses of stones evoke memories of King David and King Solomon, Ezra and Nehemiah, the Maccabees and the Sages. Kings and prophets walked along these paths. Directions: In the Old City Jerusalem
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Near the Western Wall, Jewish feelings begin to surface, often to the first time, without our knowing how and why. This essential experience is both deep and mysterious: touching the stones of this still-standing ancient wall; identifying with the nation, the heritage, and the essence of life. Thoughts and feelings become clear at the Western Wall, in their pure proportions. Here is the place where lament and joy, despair and hope - unite.
In 1967, soon after the liberation of the Old City, began the operation of clearing the Western Wall Plaza. Many tons of dirt and refuse were laboriously removed by hand to expose magnificent underground structures, comprising a continuous chain wrote in stone stretching from the Hasmonean era until our time.
These excavations reveald the entire length of the Western Wall - 488 meters - in all its glory. Phone: 02-6271333Directions: In the Old City Jerusalem
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 Wailing Wall by Goner
During the fighting in 1948 for independence, this small area suffered much destruction and was then deserted by the residents when the city was partitioned. In 1967, the Israeli government began it's renovation to preserve the historical remains. During the excavations they found dwellings from Herodian times. The most prominent feature of the Jewish Quarter is the Western Wall.
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