12 March 515 B.C (Before Christ) – Construction is completed on the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The First Temple was built by King Solomon in seven years during the 10th century B.C in 957 B.C. It was the center of ancient Judaism and has remained a focal point for Jewish services over the millennia. The Temple replaced the Tabernacle of Moses and the Tabernacles at Shiloh, Nov, and Gibeon as the central focus of Jewish faith. This First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C, and was rebuilt seventy years later by Cyrus the Great in 516 B.C.

Centuries later, it was renovated by Herod in about 20 B.C, and this Second Temple was subsequently destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. All of the outer walls still stand, although the Temple itself has long since been destroyed and for many years it was believed that the western wall of the complex was the only wall standing.

The Second Temple. Model in the Israel Museum. Photo by Ariely