The Western Wall- Jerusalem

The Western Wall is a Must-See Jerusalem Attraction


In Jerusalem’s Old City stands an ancient wall, built with massive blocks of stone. At the foot of the wall, people rock back and forth in prayer night and day. Prayer notes containing the worshipers’ messages to God are squeezed between the stones. This is the Western Wall, the most sacred Jewish site in the world!

What is the Western Wall?

Behind the Western Wall (Kotel, in Hebrew) is Temple Mount, where the First Jewish
Temple (957BC-586BC) and Second Temple (350BC-70AD) once stood. The Western Wall is all that remains of the Temple. This precious wall, is the closest Jews can come to praying on Temple Mount where the Temple no longer stands. Any trip to Israel would be incomplete without visiting the Western Wall.

Western Wall Facts

  • The wall was part of the temple Jesus visited as a young boy, and later cleared of money changers.
  • The huge stone blocks that make up the wall are carefully stacked but nothing holds them together!
  • The Kotel is known as the “Wailing Wall” as Jews come to pour their hearts out and mourn the destruction of the temple.
  • If you write a prayer note and post it to “God, Jerusalem” it will be delivered to the Rabbi of the Western Wall and inserted in the wall for you.
  •  The Western Wall measures 50m (160ft) long and 20m (60ft) high. But it originally stretched for 488m (1,601ft).

Tour the Western Wall

You don’t have to be Jewish to visit the Western Wall and place your prayer note between the stones. You can even ask your Israel tour guide for a private tour of the hidden section of the Wall below street level in the Western Wall Tunnels. A tour of Israel’s top attractions will always include this sacred wall, steeped in religious and historic significance.

Mount Herzl - tour guide

Mount Herzl

Unless you are with a private tour guide in Israel, you might

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