top of page
Jerusalem. People United in a Prayer
Sezione 1
Sezione 2
Western Wall
Herod the Great. 19 BC
PLAY ME
One day, I decided to embellish
and enlarge the Second Temple of Jerusalem,
the great reconstruction of the original Temple of Solomon. It was a magnificent work and I, being interested in the harmony of buildings, decided to build a long and high wall around the temple area. At that time, I was king of Judea, under the Roman protectorate. Thanks to my interventions, the Second Temple came to be known as Herod's Temple.
The wall was part of a construction that surrounded the entire Temple Mount, including the Second Temple. The place was the cultural and spiritual centre of Judaism, but in 70 AD it was mercilessly destroyed by the Roman Emperor Titus, who left only the wall. He saw it as a reminder of the power of Rome,
while the Jews saw it as God's promise to remain ever bound to his people. The wall, also known as the Kotel or Western Wall, is called the Wailing Wall because it symbolically reminds the Jewish faithful of the loss of their most sacred place in the world. The place, sacred even at the time of its construction, now takes on a significance steeped in spirituality,
remembrance and devotion. For centuries, Jews have been inserting notes into the cracks between stones in the wall, asking God to help them in their personal tribulations and to return their people in exile to the land of Israel.
Sezione 3
bottom of page