Jerusalem Dome

About the Dome

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and a city of immense religious and historical significance, known for its iconic Dome of the Rock and the Old City. The city combines ancient religious sites with modern development, featuring the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the vibrant Mahane Yehuda market.

Completed around 691–692 CE under the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik, the Dome of the Rock was raised on the Temple Mount, known in Islam as al-Haram al-Sharif, over the outcrop of rock that Muslim tradition links to Muhammad's night journey and Jewish tradition associates with Abraham's binding of Isaac, associations that rest on religious tradition rather than documented history. Its octagonal form and gilded dome, re-covered in gold leaf in 1993 with funding from Jordan's King Hussein, dominate photographs of the Old City and appear on tourist material, currency imagery and news coverage worldwide. Today it functions both as an active Muslim shrine and as the most recognized element of Jerusalem's skyline, in a site whose sovereignty remains disputed.