Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered a once opulent banquet hall that may have welcomed VIPs on their way to visit the nearby Temple Mount 2,000 years ago.
It had two chambers separated by a hallway decorated with a 'magnificent' fountain and Corinthian capitals, as well as guest rooms where members of the elite could dine on wooden reclining sofas, experts believe.
They said it may also have acted as a city hall before later being divided into three chambers to add a pool or ritual bath as future rulers put their own stamp on the grandiose structure.
Scroll down for video
Grand: Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered a once opulent banquet hall (pictured) that may have welcomed VIPs on their way to visit the nearby Temple Mount 2,000 years ago
It had two chambers separated by a hallway decorated with a fountain and Corinthian capitals, as well as guest rooms where VIPs could dine on wooden reclining sofas, experts believe
Today the hall lies beneath Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter and is accessed by the Western Wall Tunnel, an excavation that runs along the western flank of Temple Mount, one of the world's most contested religious sites.
Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach, who directed the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the building dates back to approximately 20-30 AD.
She said: 'This is without doubt one of the most magnificent public buildings from the Second Temple period that has ever been uncovered outside the Temple Mount walls in Jerusalem.
'The building, which apparently stood along a street leading up to the Temple Mount, was used for public functions.
'It may even have been
