Page 18 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Israel & Petra

16 ❯❯ Top 10 Israel and Petra Highlights

Western Wall

Judaism’s holiest place of prayer, the Western Wall or HaKotel is
a huge retaining structure built by Herod the Great to hold up the
Temple Mount. It is about 1,600 ft (488 m) long, but only a small
section is used for prayers; most of the rest is hidden or is part
of an archeological park. From 1948 to 1967,
Jews were not allowed to pray at the Wall,
but since its dramatic capture by Israeli
paratroopers during the Six-Day War, it has
once again become a place of pilgrimage.
Men’s Section
2
The Wall’s prayer
area is divided by sex,
according to Orthodox
Jewish tradition, with
about two-thirds of the
197-ft (60-m) stretch
reserved for men. Only
men are permitted to
read from the Torah.
Herodian-Era
Prayer Notes
1 3
Stones
For centuries Jews
have written prayers on Limestone blocks laid
slips of paper and tucked on the orders of Herod –
them in the crevices the largest weighing 520
between the Wall’s giant tonnes – can be identified
stones (above). Twice by their indented borders.
a year, the notes are Seven layers of stones
collected and buried can be seen; another
on the Mount of Olives. 17 layers lie hidden
Chain of
beneath the plaza. 5
Generations
Davidson
THE OLD CITY 4 Center
The Wall is the eastern Center Displayed in seven
boundary of the Jewish Part of the Jerusalem rooms, glass sculptures
Quarter, which was Archeological Park, this (below) illustrate the
largely destroyed by the museum holds artifacts transmis sion of Jewish
Jordanians in the 1948 shedding light on the tradition and the deep
war and rebuilt in 1967 city’s history. There’s also spiritual bond of Jews to
after Israel’s capture of a virtual reconstruction Jerusalem from biblical
East Jerusalem. North of of the Second Temple. times to the present.
it is the Muslim Quarter,
the largest and most
populous, stretching
to Damascus Gate and
including most of the
Via Dolorosa. West of
this lies the Christian
Quarter, with dozens
of holy places. The small
Armenian Quarter is in
the southwest corner,
stretching to Jaffa Gate.

Eyewitness Travel – Top 10 series LAYERS PRINTED:
Three-column, 8.25pt grid “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1.5)
016-017_Top_10_Israel.indd 16 19/06/2017 12:57
Segregated Sections: men need
Date 12th May 2015
Size 100mm x 191mm a head covering; women should
dress modestly