Famous Walls in History

wdoutjah (58)in #history • 6 years ago (edited)

Throughout history, walls have been built by different cultures for different purposes. Agree? And sometimes, walls take on greater significance than was originally intended.

Here are three examples of walls that became part of history.

The Western Wall

Located in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall which is also called as "The Wailing Wall" is a very important Jewish religious site. The wall is a section of an ancient construction some 1,600 feet long, although only a portion of it is generally visited and used for praying.

The wall is on the western edge of the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, and the location of a great temple established by King Solomon.

The wall dates from extensive reconstructions done on the temple in 19 BCE by King Herod. Roman forces destroyed the great temple in 70 AD, leaving only the western wall and a few other ruins. Jews would often go to the wall and weep at the destruction of the temple, giving it the name "Wailing Wall."

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When the Roman Empire became Christian, Jews were forbidden to enter Jerusalem except on one day a year, when they would swarm to the Western Wall to lament the loss of the temple. Jews were later allowed to resettle in Jerusalem, the tradition of weeping and praying at the wall continued.

Temple Mount has been home to the Al-Aqsa mosque which is a very important Islamic holy site since around 700 AD. The wall has been a bone of contention between Jews and Muslims for centuries. From 1948 to 1967, Jordan occupied Old Jerusalem, including the area of the wall, and Jews were not allowed to visit during this time.

When Israel recaptured the city, the wall was joyously reopened for prayer. Today, it is a pilgrimage site for Jews around the world, who refer to it as "Kotel."

The Great Wall of China

Built over the course of centuries from the 5th all the way to 16th century BC of the modern era and stretching up to 21,196.18 km, the Great Wall of China is the most impressive fortification ever built by man.

This is reflected in the fact that it was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

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The Great Wall of China was designed to protect Chinese states from marauding Mongolian and Manchurian nomads. At some point the wall was effective but during the 17th century invasion of the Manchurians, they managed to get through the wall which led to the downfall of the Ming Dynasty.

Did you know that the Great Wall of China goes by many names?

The nickname "The Great Wall of China" is commonly used by Americans, French and Germans.
Some western countries calls it "The Chinese Wall".
In China, the wall has been given different names, The 10,000-Li-Long Wall, The Long Wall of 10,000 Li, The Purple Frontier and The Earth Dragon.

Today, it is China’s leading tourist attraction, drawing thousands of visitors every year.

The Berlin Wall

After World War Two, Germany was in ruins. The nation was divided up among the four allied powers: France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States. The capital city, Berlin, was also divided despite the fact that it lay well within the Soviet area of control.

The former allies soon disagreed on how best to rebuild Germany. Josef Stalin, dictator of the Soviet Union, wanted a communist nation and under his control East Germany went communist, but three-quarters of Berlin remained under the control of the Americans, French and British.

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The Soviets therefore decided to separate the two ideological groups, in an attempt to get the western powers to relinquish their share of the city. A border was established, and Germans could no longer pass freely from one area to the other.

When Berlin became a haven for Germans and others who wished to defect, Soviet and East German authorities decided to build a wall around that part of Berlin still controlled by Britain, France and the USA. Construction began in 1961.

For years, the Berlin Wall stood as a reminder of the Cold War.

As the Soviet Union and its satellite states began to crumble in the late 1980’s, pressure grew to reunite East and West Germany. On June 12, 1987, US President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at the wall where he uttered his famous challenge: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

By 1990 the wall was gone and Germany reunited.

These walls surely are historic and their construction really made a mark. This just proves the ingenuity of man and it's capability to beyond human expectation.

Thanks for reading guys.