The Al-Aqsa Mosque sits on the southernmost point of the Temple Mount, and is Jerusalem's largest mosque. It has floor space for more than 4,000 worshippers (no seating as worshippers prostrate themselves to pray toward Mecca).
Its name means the farthest mosque, which is related to Muhammad's Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and back.
It was built in 715 AD, about twenty years after the construction of the Dome of the Rock. It has undergone many restorations, including one in 1938-42, in which Benito Mussolini donated seven rows of pillars.
Tourist are no longer allowed in the mosque like in times past. But there are some interesting things to see inside:
Its name means the farthest mosque, which is related to Muhammad's Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and back.
It was built in 715 AD, about twenty years after the construction of the Dome of the Rock. It has undergone many restorations, including one in 1938-42, in which Benito Mussolini donated seven rows of pillars.
Tourist are no longer allowed in the mosque like in times past. But there are some interesting things to see inside:
- Bullet holes in a pillar from the 1951 assassination of King Abdullah of Jordan
- A rock behind the pulpit supposedly bearing the final footprint of Jesus at His ascension
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