Suleiman the Magnificent and the walls of Jerusalem

Under Suleiman the Ottoman empire reaches the summit of its power: his armies stand before Vienna, his fleet holds the Mediterranean, and his laws are so well ordered that within the empire the sultan is called the Lawgiver. Having taken the Levant, he sets Jerusalem in order too: repairs the aqueduct, builds fountains, and in 1537–1541 rings the city with a wall about four kilometres long, with towers and gates. It is this wall that outlines today's Old City. To the same years is assigned the arrangement of the plaza by the Western Wall as a place of Jewish prayer.