Called the Kotel in Hebrew. The ancient wall was the western half of the retaining wall for the Second Temple during the time of Jesus Christ. Because of its proximity to the Temple, the Western Wall has been deemed the holiest site in all of Judaism. Jews from Jerusalem, Israel, and all parts of the world come to pray at the Wall everyday Bar Mitzvahs are regularly celebrated in front of the Wall. Christian pilgrimages often come here to pray too because of the significance the Second Temple played in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. Construction of this Wall with its mammoth stones was started in 19 B.C. by King Herod the Great and was finished by his great grand son King Herod Agrippa II. The Western Wall is the only standing remains of the Temple area after the Romans thoroughly destroyed and dismantled the Temple in A.D. 70, literally not leaving one stone upon another as Jesus foretold forty years earlier for Israel’s rejection of Him (Matthew 24:2).