View of the Area

View from the southwest looking northeast towards the "Western Wall" - formerly called the "Wailing Wall." This wall is part of the western retaining wall of the temple platform on top of which Herod refurbished the actual Temple building. The plaza in front of the wall was cleared in 1967 and then paved. Above it is the Moslem shrine called the "Dome of the Rock." It is believed that the biblical temples once stood where the Dome of the Rock is located today.

For a closer view of the Western Wall click here.