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Western Wall . . . . . . . . . . Plaza
The Western Wall is the most holy place accessible to the Jewish people because of Muslim control of the Temple Mount. Known in recent centuries as the "Wailing Wall," this was built by Herod the Great as the retaining wall of the Temple Mount complex. The plaza was created as an area for prayer when Israel captured the Old City in 1967. At times tens of thousands of people gather here for prayer.
Prayers
The most holy place in the world accessible to Jewish people, prayers are offered up at this wall built by King Herod in the first century B.C.Three times a day the Jewish people pray (morning, afternoon, evening) and they do so with phylacteries tied around their forehead and wrist and with the white and blue prayer shawls.
Wilson's Arch
The men's prayer area continues from the outdoor section through a passageway to the north. Within this area is a massive arch originally constructed by Herod and now known after a British explorer in the 1860s.
Though only 25 feet high now, the arch originally was 75 feet high when the Central Valley was much deeper. |
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Largest Stone
An especially large course of stones is visible on the southern and western walls today. On the west the "Master Course" consists of four stones, the largest of which weighs 570 tons and is 44 feet long, 10 feet high and 12-16 feet deep. The next largest stone in the wall is a mere 40 feet long. The largest stone in the Great |
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