The Western Wall plaza is a public place of Jewish prayer, pilgrimage and national ceremonies. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation manages the complex, including the prayer plaza, upper plaza and tunnels, under government decisions and the regulations governing Jewish holy places.
Prayer and ceremonies
The lower plaza is designated for prayer. The upper plaza can host approved educational, national and military ceremonies under rules set by the Foundation. Large events require advance coordination and may require police safety approval. The Foundation’s published procedures describe how events are approved and how sound equipment is regulated.
The main prayer area is arranged in separate men’s and women’s sections according to Orthodox practice. A separate prayer area at the southern end of the Western Wall, at Robinson’s Arch, was designated for mixed-gender prayer through a 2016 government decision; implementation and arrangements have changed over time. Visitors should check current directions and rules before planning a ceremony.
What visitors can see
The plaza gives access to the exposed section of the Wall and to the entrances for the Western Wall Tunnels. The tunnel route shows selected excavated spaces and buried portions of the retaining wall; it is not the entire length of the western enclosure. Archaeological reports document multiple periods beneath the modern city, including Herodian structures and later streets. The Foundation describes its role in managing the complex in its institutional information; the IAA tunnel report presents excavation findings.
The nearby Temple Mount has separate religious and security arrangements. A visit to the Wall plaza does not itself grant access to the Mount. For the history behind today’s prayer area, see the return to the Wall in 1967.