10/20/2023
Initially completed in 691 AD, the Dome of the Rock is one of the first and most familiar achievements of Islamic architecture. Located on the Temple Mount it stands on one of the most contested religious sites in the world. Despite common conceptions, the Dome of the Rock is not a mosque, but a shrine which protects beneath its high ceiling, a sacred rock. The Dome is probably the most spectacular building in the Old City, topped with a dazzling golden dome visible from afar, the interior layered with glittering ceramics, mosaics and Arabic calligraphy.