 Several Jewish authors of the 10th and 11th centuries write about the Jews resorting to the Western Wall for devotional purposes . Ahimaaz relates that Rabbi Samuel ben Paltiel ( 980 @-@ 1010 ) gave money for oil at " the sanctuary at the Western Wall . " Benjamin of Tudela ( 1170 ) wrote " In front of this place is the Western Wall , which is one of the walls of the Holy of Holies . This is called the Gate of Mercy , and hither come all the Jews to pray before the Wall in the open court . " The account gave rise to confusion about the actual location of Jewish worship and some suggest that Benjamin in fact referred to the Eastern Wall along with its Gate of Mercy . While Nahmanides ( d . 1270 ) did not mention a synagogue near the Western Wall in his detailed account of the temple site , shortly before the Crusader period a synagogue existed at the site . Obadiah of Bertinoro ( 1488 ) states " the Westen Wall , part of which is still standing , is made of great , thick stones , larger than any I have seen in buildings of antiquity in Rome or in other lands . " 
