The central street of the Cardo is 40 feet (12 m) wide and is lined on both sides with columns. The total width of the street and shopping areas on either side is 70 feet (22 m), the equivalent of a 4-lane highway today. This street was the main thoroughfare of Byzantine Jerusalem and served both residents and pilgrims. Large churches flanked the Cardo in several places.Uncovered by Nahman Avigad’s team in the 1970s, the Cardo in the Jewish Quarter was excavated for about 650 feet (200 m). This portion dates to the time of Emperor Justinian in the first half of the 6th century AD. An earlier portion of the Cardo was constructed in the Roman period beginning at the modern Damascus Gate in the north, but it didn’t stretch this far south until centuries later.