Small Wailing Wall (Kotel in Hebrew HaKatan) - located in the Muslim Quarter of the supporting structures of the lost Jewish Temple. It is far less known than the famous "big" the Wailing Wall, but in the spiritual sense, even more important is the shrine.

Both walls - the remnants of an enormous ancient foundation, built by Herod the Great around the Temple Mount, on which stood the Biblical Temple of Jerusalem. On the surface of the earth and under the earth, archaeologists have dated the stone blocks belonging to different eras - from the time of King Solomon (X century BC. E.) To the Herodian period (the last decade I century BC. E.). It is to the Herodian period includes the seven lower rows of masonry of the famous Wailing Wall (in the European tradition - West).

Little Kotel is located about 200 meters north of his famous relative. The path to it lies through the Muslim Quarter. To the left of the iron gate leading to the Temple Mount, there is an arch - dived into it, the tourist is in a short three-meter width of the aisle, along which there is a powerful ancient masonry. The two lower its number belong to the era of the Second Temple (516 BC. E. - '70). Older rocks hidden below in accrued over the millennia a cultural layer of the city.

But the holiness of the place in Judaism is not determined by the antiquity of the stones, and the proximity to a point on the Temple Mount, where once the Wisdom of Solomon placed in the Holy of Holies Ark of the Covenant of Moses with the tablets of stone. The closest to the Holy of Holies is a process of a tunnel under the Temple Mount, in second place - Small Wailing Wall, and only the third - the world famous Western Wall. Thus, the Small Wall is one of the most important religious centers of Judaism. Tradition connects this place with the advent of the prophet Elijah. It is also believed that it was here with Rabbi Abraham Halevi Bruhimom said God Himself.

Small Wall was not always available to the faithful Jews. From the XIII century pass along it is a yard Hospice House for Muslim pilgrims. After the founding of the State of Israel has long been a playground in the territory under the control of Jordan. Free access to the Little Wall Jews received after the 1967 Six Day War, when Jerusalem came under the control of the whole of Israel.

However, the last decade of the XX century, marked by numerous conflicts between Jewish worshipers and some local Muslims. In 1972, archaeological excavations at the Small Walls threatened surrounding buildings. To strengthen the structural engineers had to drill four holes in the wall, it angered both Jews and Muslims. To prevent new conflicts, the authorities banned any changes in the appearance of the yard - for example, you can not even put the bench.

Places at the Minor walls a bit, but the faithful are pressed against the ancient stones, prayers and put in the cracks between the blocks with little notes asking for God - just like the famous Wailing Wall.