Wilson's Arch - First Century Jerusalem

 
Photo of Wilson's Arch in the Second Temple Model in Jerusalem

Wilson's Arch is the modern name for the ancient stone arch whose top is still visible today, where it is supported against the Northeast corner of Jerusalem's Western Wall, so that it appears on the left to visitors facing the Wall. It once spanned 42 feet (13 m), supporting a road that continued for 75 feet (23 m) and allowed access to a gate that was level with the surface of the Temple Mount during the time of Jesus. Name. The arch was identified in 1864 by 19th-century explorer and surveyor Charles William Wilson, for whom it is now named.

 

Photo of Wilson's Arch inside the Western Wall Tunnel.

 

 

 

On the image on the right you may notice an area with a reddish rectangle box around it. That is the area known today as the Western "Wailing" Wall. It gives an idea of how large this wall actually was. Also in the background is Wilson's Arch which connected the Upper and Lower Cities.