Western Wall Tunnels - Jerusalem
Introduction
The Tour of the Western Wall Tunnel in Jerusalem starts at the Western Wall Plaza. On the opposite side of the bridge which connects the Temple Mount with the plaza. A small section of the underground wall can be seen from the ground level, some visitors threw coins for good luck. A sign at the entrance in Hebrew and English requests visitors to dress properly because they were entering a holy site. Open air Western Wall is around 60 meters long, the tunnels shows another 485 meters. A sign informed the visitors that they were standing closest to the Holy of the Holies at that point. Only a few people are allowed to pray here.
The Western Stone
The Western Stone is the biggest stone of the wall and it weighs around 517 tonnes. This stone is 13.6 meters long and 3 meters high and has an estimated width of 3.3 meters. Inside the tunnels, one can see many arches which belonged to bridges in the past. These bridges were built in line with the Temple Mount wall because the area below these bridges was much lower than the Temple Mount.
Part of the old ceiling which goes back to the Herod era and he expanded the Temple Mount area in 19 BC. the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD thus burying this wall underground. British researcher Charles Wilson began the excavations in 1864 and was followed by Charles Warren in 1867-70.
An unfinished stone inside the tunnel suggests that workers stopped working because they were not getting paid when Herod died. The Struthion Pool an open-air pool but Herod added arch vaulting so it was covered underneath it.
The tunnel on the Northern exit was created in 1996 after destroying the parts of the Muslim Quarter which led to unrest and killing of 80 people. At the end of the Northern Exit, there were few offices and one one belonged to the Western Wall Rabbi. A huge and impressive looking Mamluk hall brings visitors to the end of the visit and then to the ground level.
