The Western Wall Tunnel is an underground tunnel exposing the full length of the Western Wall. The tunnel is adjacent to the Western Wall and is located under buildings of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. While the open-air portion of the Western Wall is approximately 60 metres (200 ft) long, the majority of its original length is hidden underground. The tunnel allows access to an additional 485 metres (1,591 ft) of the wall The tunnel exposes a total length of 485 m of the wall, revealing the methods of construction and the various activities in the vicinity of the Temple Mount.[1] The excavations included many archaeological finds along the way, including discoveries from the Herodian period (streets, monumental masonry), sections of a reconstruction of the Western Wall dating to the Umayyad period, and various structures dating to the Ayyubid, Mamluke and Hasmonean periods constructed to support buildings in the vicinity of the Temple Mount. "Warren's Gate" lies about 150 feet (46 m) into the tunnel. This sealed-off entrance has been turned into a small synagogue called "The Cave", by Rabbi Yehuda Getz, since it is the closest point a Jew can get to the Holy of Holies, assuming it was located at the traditional site under the Dome of the Rock. At the northern portion of the Western Wall, remains of a water channel, which originally supplied water to the Temple Mount, were found. The exact source of the channel is unknown, though it passes through an underground pool known as the "Struthion Pool". The water channel was dated to the Hasmonean period and was accordingly dubbed the "Hasmonean Channel". The biggest stone in the Western Wall often called the Western Stone is also revealed within the tunnel and ranks as one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by human beings without powered machinery. The stone has a length of 13.6 metres (45 ft) and an estimated width of between 3.5 metres (11 ft) and 4.5 metres (15 ft); estimates place its weight at 570 short tons (510 long tons). Adjacent to the tunnel lies a museum called "The Chain of Generations Center," designed by Eliav Nahlieli. The impressive site, which incorporates ancient and modern Jewish history, includes an elaborate audiovisual show, and nine magnificent glass sculptures created by glass artist Jeremy Langford. In 2007 the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered an ancient Roman street, thought to be from the second to fourth centuries. It was a side street which likely connected two major roads, and led up to the Temple Mount. The discovery of the road gave further evidence that Romans continued to use the Temple Mount after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. The Struthion Pool is a large cuboid cistern, which gathered the rainwater from guttering on the Forum buildings. Prior to Hadrian, this cistern had been an open-air pool, but Hadrian added arch vaulting to enable the pavement to be placed over it. The existence of the pool in the first century is attested by Josephus, who reports that it was called Struthius (literally meaning sparrow).[6] This Struthion Pool was originally built as part of an open-air water conduit by the Hasmoneans, which has since been enclosed; the source of the water for this conduit is currently unidentified. As a result of 1971 extensions to the original Western Wall Tunnel, the Hasmonean water system became linked to the end of the Western Wall Tunnel; although they run under Arab housing, and later opened as a tourist attraction. The attraction has a linear route, starting at the Western Wall Plaza, passing through the modern tunnels, then the ancient water system, and ending at the Struthion Pool; as the Sisters of Zion were not willing to allow tourists to exit into the Convent of the Sisters of Zion via the Struthion Pool, tourists had to return through the narrow tunnels to their starting point, creating logistical issues. מנהרות הכותל הן מערך חללים ומחילות תת-קרקעיות מתקופות שונות לאורך תוואי הכותל המערבי, מתחת לבתי הרובע המוסלמי בעיר העתיקה בירושלים. במתחם מבנים מתקופת בית שני, מימי הביניים ומהעת החדשה. ציר הליכה אופקי מחבר את החללים והמחילות, מעניק למבקר חוויה של מסע לאורך ציר הזמן ההיסטורי, ונחשב לאחד מאתרי התיירות הפופולריים בישראל. האתר, כנקודת חיכוך רגישה מבחינה דתית בין אוכלוסייה מוסלמית ויהודית, הביא לא פעם לתסיסה, שהגדולה בהן הייתה מהומות מנהרת הכותל ב-1996. פרויקט חשיפת הכותל המערבי לכל אורכו לאחר מלחמת ששת הימים, במטרה לאפשר לכל יהודי לגשת אל הכותל ללא הפרעה וללא מכשול, היה יוזמה של משרד הדתות

• published: 18 May 2015
• views: 1