The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount. It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple's courtyard, and is arguably the most sacred site recognized by the Jewish faith outside of the Temple Mount itself. It has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries; the earliest source mentioning Jewish attachment to the site dates back to the 4th century. The plaza in front of the Wall is divided by a fence, with a large area for men on the left and a smaller area for women on the right. Placing notes in the Western Wall refers to the practice of placing slips of paper containing written prayers to God into the cracks and crevices of the Western Wall. Online services offer petitioners the opportunity to send their notes to the Western Wall via e-mail, fax, text messaging and Internet; the note is then printed out and inserted in the Wall. Twice a year, Rabbi Rabinovitch and his assistants collect the notes left in the Wall and bury them in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. On Saturdays, it is forbidden to enter the area with electronic devices, including cameras, which infringe on the sanctity of the Sabbath.

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. The arch was identified in 1864 by 19th-century explorer and surveyor Charles William Wilson, for whom it is now named. Over the prayer hall area within the Arch is the large building known as the "Makhkama" or "Tankiziah," that includes a porch looking over the Temple Mount. New construction also included a women's section and gallery. The restoration to the men's section included a Torah ark that can house over 100 Torah scrolls, in addition to new bookshelves, a library, heating for the winter, and air conditioning for the summer.
(from Wikipedia)

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