Robinson's Arch, the large stone lentel protruding from the southern part of the Western Wall, was discovered in 1838 and named after its discoverer, American researcher Edward Robinson.
Archaeological excavations from 1968-1977 showed that the arch was a Temple archway, which spanned over paved streets that supported a flight of steps leading from the street to the Temple Mount. The main street of ancient Jerusalem, Tyropean Road, passed under this great arch.
It was built by Herod the Great at the end of the 1st century B.C. as part of the Second Temple reconstruction. It was destroyed in 70 A.D. when Roman legions under Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian, crushed a five-year long revolt and conquered Jerusalem.
The great piles of fallen stones provide dramatic evidence of the destruction wrought by the Roman legions in Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D., which Josephus Flavius described in great detail.
Some of the stones which covered the street were removed and the site is now opened to visitors who can walk on the original pavement of this street from the Second Temple period.
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