Tunnel of the Western Wall

In the 1st century BC e. King Herod undertook a project to double the area of ​​the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, by joining part of the hill in the northwest. In order to realize it, four supporting walls were built, on top of which the Temple Mount was expanded. These supporting walls remained standing - along with the platform itself - after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. e.

Since then, most of the territory near the walls has been entered and built up ^[1] . After the destruction of the Temple, part of the Western Wall remained open. Since it was the closest accessible site to the Holy of Holies of the Temple, it became a place of prayer for Jews for millennia ^[2] .

British explorers began to unearth the Western Wall in the middle of the 19th century. Charles Wilson began excavation in 1864, followed by Charles Warren in 1867-70. Wilson opened the arch, now named after him - the "Wilson Arch" - which is 12.8 meters wide and is located above the current ground level. It is believed that the arch supported the bridge connecting the Temple Mount with the city during the Second Temple ^[1] . Warren struck the mines in the Wilson Arch, which are still visible ^[3] .

After the Six Day War, the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Israel began excavations to discover the continuation of the Western Wall. Excavations continued for almost twenty years and revealed many previously unknown facts about the history and geography of the Temple Mount. Excavation was difficult because the tunnels passed under residential blocks built on top of the ancient structures of the Second Temple period. Excavations were carried out under the supervision of scientific and rabbinical consultants in order to both guarantee the stability of the upstream buildings and prevent damage to historical artifacts ^[3] . In 1988, the Western Wall Heritage Fund ^[4] was formed, which took responsibility for the excavation ^[3] , maintenance and renovation of the Western Wall and the Western Wall Square ^[4] .

The tunnel provides access to 485 meters of the wall, revealing construction methods and various types of activities in the territory adjacent to the Temple Mount ^[1] . As archaeological excavations were carried out, many archaeological finds were made - including the discoveries of the Herodian period (streets, monumental construction), sections of the reconstruction of the Western Wall dating from the Umayyad period, and various buildings belonging to the Ayyubid , Mamluk and Hasmonean periods, erected to support buildings in the adjacent territory Temple Mount.

At a distance of about 46 meters from the entrance to the tunnel are the "Warren Gate". For hundreds of years, this sealed entrance was a small synagogue called the Cave, where early Muslims allowed Jews to pray in the immediate vicinity of the ruins of the Temple. Rabbi Yehuda Getz built a synagogue directly behind the gate, because now it is the closest point to the Holy of Holies where a Jew can pray - assuming that the Holy of Holies was in a traditional place under the Dome of the Rock .

Inside the tunnel is also found the largest stone of the Western Wall, often called the Western stone , which is one of the heaviest objects ever raised by human beings without the help of equipment powered by any kind of energy. The stone is 13.6 meters long, 3 meters high and is estimated to be between 3.5 and 4.5 meters wide; the calculation determines its weight at 520 tons.

Next to the tunnel is the Chain of Generations Center, a Jewish historical museum designed by Eliah Nahlieli, which houses an audiovisual show and nine glass sculptures created by glass artist Jeremy Langford.

In 2007, the Israel Antiquities Authority discovered an ancient Roman street dating back presumably from the second to fourth centuries. It was a side street, which probably connected two major roads and led up to the Temple Mount. The opening of the road provided new confirmation that the Romans continued to use the Temple Mount after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. e. ^[5] .

The Strution Basin is a large cube-shaped cistern that collected rainwater from the gutters of the Forum buildings. Before Adrian, this cistern was an outdoor pool, but Adrian added arched ceilings so that a pavement could be placed on top of them.

The existence of the basin in the first century is confirmed by Joseph , who reports that it was called Struthius (literally a sparrow ) ^[6] . Initially, this pool of the Strution was built by the Hasmoneans, as part of an open water conduit, which since then has been placed under the ceiling. The remains of this water channel supplying water to the Temple Mount were discovered in the northern part of the Western Wall; the source of water for it has not been determined to date.

Initially, visitors had to reach the end of the tunnel and return back to the entrance, following the already traveled path. As a result of the extension of the original West Wall tunnel in 1971, the end of the tunnel was connected to the aforementioned Hasmonean water system; Nevertheless, tourists still had to reach the Strution basin to make a U-turn and return to their starting point with narrow passages, which created logistical difficulties. It was proposed to dig an alternative exit from the tunnel; however, the proposal was initially rejected on the grounds that, whatever this exit, it would be perceived as an attempt by the Jewish authorities to claim ownership of nearby plots of land belonging to the Muslim quarter of the city. In addition, the Sisters of Zion did not want to allow tourists to exit the tunnel through the pool in the Sisters of Zion monastery.

However, in 1996, Benjamin Ntanyahu ordered the creation of an exit leading onto Via Dolorosa , under the Ummaria Madrasah. Over the next few weeks, 80 people were killed during protests against the construction of the exit. ^[7] The Strution basin was divided into two parts by a wall blocking the communication between them; one part is visible from the tunnel of the Western Wall, the other is a site accessible from the side of the monastery of the Sisters of Zion. After that, tourists got the opportunity to enter the tunnel through the southern entrance near the Western Wall, go along with the guide the entire length of the tunnel and exit through its northern end. This exit, however, is only open during the daytime, due to the still valid security concerns.