Underneath the Wailing Wall in the Holy Land- actually a continuation of the same, the original version brilliantly excavated! Some of the largest rocks weigh several tons! The Western Wall, known in the West as the Wailing Wall and in Islam as the Buraq Wall, is an ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is a relatively small segment of a far longer ancient retaining wall, also known in its entirety as the “Western Wall.”

The wall was originally erected as part of the expansion of the Second Jewish Temple begun by Herod the Great, which resulted in the encasement of the natural, steep hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount, in a huge rectangular structure topped by a flat platform, thus creating more space for the Temple itself, its auxiliary buildings, and crowds of worshipers and visitors.

The Western Wall’s holiness in Judaism is a result of its proximity to the Temple Mount. Because of the Temple Mount entry restrictions, the Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray, though the site of the Holy of Holies, the most sacred site in the Jewish faith, lies behind it.

And yet another furry feline friend greets us in the Old City…