The Dome of the Rock, erroneously known as the Mosque of Omar, rises in Jerusalem in one of the most sacred places on earth, the object of worship of all three monotheistic religions: the rock, which rises up to about two meters, is sacred to the Jewish and Christian tradition. In fact according to Jewish legend, the rock is the foundation stone and the axis of the world, while here Abraham had agreed to sacrifice his son Isaac to God. According to Islamic tradition, however, it is the point from which the Prophet Muhammad left in his night flight (Alisraa wa Ilmiirag) for ascension to heaven.

Legend says that the rock attempted to follow the Prophet, but was stopped by the Archangel Gabriel, who left the imprint of his hand. One of the three holy places of Islam after the mosques of Mecca and Medina is inside the AL-Haram-al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary. There are two main structures: the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Founded in 691 by the caliph Abd al-Malik, the Dome of the Rock is one of the religious symbols of the Islamic civilization and the oldest existing monument of the Umayyad architecture. In the Middle Ages, during the Crusader occupation of Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock was converted into a church called Templum Domini (Temple of God). The church soon became the seat of one of the most mysterious and powerful knightly orders of the story, the Templars .The Dome of the Rock is a masterpiece of Islamic architecture. The architectural scheme incorporates examples of Christian buildings with a central plan and it is built around the rock: an octagonal building with double ambulatory that is reminiscent of the Ka’ba, surmounted by a wooden dome on a high drum lit by 16 windows. The dome, which had to get over in beauty of the Holy Sepulcher, is supported by four pillars and has a height, from ground level to the summit of 35,30 m. Rebuilt in the original form in the early eleventh century, it was covered with gilded copper plates. The building is entirely covered with colored marble and colored majolica tiles, placed by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1552, which reproduce calligraphic, geometric and naturalistic motives of great refinement (the Islamic religion forbids to reproduce human images). Also the inside of the dome is covered with mosaic gold tiles and glass paste. Four portals, each originally preceded by an arcade, mark the four cardinal pointsThe inner walls are completely covered with marble slabs. The columns have capitals of different architectural styles.