The Western Wall

Today’s Western Wall is part of the retaining wall Herod began building around the Temple platform and was likely finished just before the end of the first century BCE. It remains one of the holiest sites for Jews and attracts millions of visitors each year. Many offer prayers at the site, some of which are written on small slips of paper and wedged into the crevices of the wall. The portion of the wall visible at the visitors’ site is just a fraction of the larger wall that surrounds the Temple Mount, a holy site known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif.