Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall overnight Tuesday.
Putin arrived at the Old City at 1:30 am, saying that he did not want to miss out on visiting the two holy sites, which have a "special feeling."
'Special feeling.' Putin at Western Wall (Photo: Shalom Freund)
Putin prays at Western Wall (Photo: Shalom Freund)
This is the third visit of the Russian president to the Western Wall. His first visit was before he was elected president, and his second visit was in 2005, during Passover .
Throughout the visit, Putin demonstrated curiosity, asked many questions on the history of the place, and spoke about the Jewish connection to the holy site: "You can see how the Jewish past is engraved in the Jerusalem stone," he said.
The late night visit followed a busy day of meetings with top Israeli officials including President Shimon Peres ,Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu andForeign Minister Avigdor Lieberman .