Built in the last quarter of the 1st century BC by Herod the Great, the Palace (depicted here by a model) was the second most important building in Jerusalem, after the Temple itself, according to the
Jewish Magazine. Nothing remains of the Palace today except for portions of the surrounding wall-and-tower complex, much altered and generally known as "the Citadel."
The praetorium at the Palace was, after Herod's death, the official residence of the Roman governors when they visited Jerusalem. This was probably the site of the trial of Jesus of Nazareth by Pontius Pilate.