The Kotel is also known as Ha-Kotel Ma'aravi, the Western Wall and the Wailing Wall. Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem and is part of the remains of the second Temple. The Kotel is considered the holiest site in Judaism because of its proximity to the destroyed ancient Temples and to the place where Holy of Holies used to reside. It is said that the gateway to heaven is situated directly above the wall.

Only a small portion of the Western Wall is exposed. There is almost 500 feet of the wall that is buried under ground. It can be viewed by visiting the Western Wall Tunnels that were cleared by Israeli archeologists over the last 20 years. 

The Kotel is said to be the permanent home for Shekhinah or the embodiment of divine presence. It's also said that on the ninth of Av a white dove perches on the wall and weeps over the destruction of the Holy Temple.

Under the Armistice agreement of 1949,  the  Jordanians agreed to allow the Jews access to the Western Wall and Mount of Olives but never lived up to their commitments. No Jew was allowed to visit the Kotel until 1967.

The Western Wall fell under the Israeli control during the Six-Day War. On June 7th of 1967 Israeli paratroopers stormed the Temple Mount  compound trough the Lions Gate. At the Western Wall General  Goren blew the shofar and said Kaddish, the mourner's prayer, for his fallen comrades. General Moshe Dayan wrote a prayer on a note and inserted it between the stones. The note read "We have reunited the capital of Israel never to part it again. To our Arab neighbors we offer, even now, our hand in peace".

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