Until 1948, one of the largest and most important Ashkenazi synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem was the Hurva Synagogue.  Fighting in May 1948 left the building in ruins, but following the city’s capture by Israel in 1967, plans were discussed to reconstruct the synagogue.  The interested parties could not agree on a solution, and so in 1977 a memorial arch was erected.  In 2000, plans were approved to rebuild the synagogue following its original design, and in 2005, work commenced.

 Memorial Arch, January 2000

 Arch removed, May 2006

Reconstruction underway, May 2008

 November 2008 (Photo courtesy of Alexander Schick)

For more about the Hurva Synagogue, see the Wikipedia article or these Google links.