The Western Wall that visitors see in the plaza is only a small fraction of the full retaining wall. The visible section is about 57 meters long. The full western wall of the Temple Mount extends 488 meters, and most of it is buried underground, hidden behind centuries of construction. The Western Wall Tunnels tour takes visitors along this hidden wall, through 2,000 years of excavated history, to places that most visitors never know exist.
Tunnel
The tunnel runs northward from the Western Wall plaza along the base of the Temple Mount wall, passing through spaces that were streets, halls, and water channels in antiquity. The Herodian masonry is visible throughout, and the scale of the stones is staggering. The Western Stone, the largest single building stone at the Temple Mount, measures 13.6 meters long, 3 meters high, and weighs an estimated 570 tons. Standing beside it underground, touching its surface, you are in physical contact with one of the most ambitious building projects of the ancient world.
Closest Point
The tunnel passes a section of the wall that stands directly opposite where the Holy of Holies of the Temple once stood. This point, known as the Closest Point (HaMakom HaKarov), is marked by a small synagogue where worshippers pray facing the wall. The emotional intensity of prayer at this spot, which is as close as any Jew can get to the place where the Divine Presence dwelled, is profound. Many visitors find this the most powerful moment of the tunnel tour.
Warren’s Gate
The tunnel reveals Warren’s Gate, an ancient entrance to the Temple Mount that was sealed centuries ago. Named after Charles Warren, the British engineer who explored it in the 1860s, the gate once provided direct access from the street to the Temple compound. The gate is now blocked, but the massive stones of its frame are visible, and the knowledge that you are standing at an entrance that pilgrims once used to reach the Temple adds another layer to the experience.
Synagogue of Rabbi Getz
Near the Closest Point, the tunnel contains a synagogue established by Rabbi Yehuda Meir Getz, who served as the rabbi of the Western Wall from 1968 until his death in 1995. Rabbi Getz was a legendary figure who devoted his life to the Wall and its tunnels. In 1981, he secretly broke through Warren’s Gate in an attempt to reach the space beneath the Temple Mount, believing he might find the Ark of the Covenant. The discovery triggered a confrontation with the Waqf (the Islamic authority managing the Temple Mount), and the opening was sealed with concrete. Rabbi Getz’s synagogue, in the tunnel near the gate, remains a place of prayer and a memorial to a man who spent his life as close to the Temple as the modern world allows.
Practical Information
The tunnel tour takes approximately 75 minutes and must be booked in advance. Tours are available in Hebrew, English, and several other languages. The tunnel is narrow in some sections and not suitable for those with severe claustrophobia. The tour exits at the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter, which means visitors emerge from Herodian Jerusalem directly into the medieval streets of the Old City.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
The Western Wall Tunnels are one of the most popular attractions in Jerusalem, and advance booking is essential. Hoshen Tours arranges tunnel visits as part of every Jerusalem itinerary.