Dome of the Rock (al-Haram al-Sharif) Jerusalem

Jerusalem is to most the most sacred city in the world and has so much to see. It has the history of the bible everywhere. The entire city is within city walls and this is one of the most famous city walls in the world. I think I have been to 4 of the top 10 city walls in the world. Some of the others are Pingyao in China, Xian in China and …

So one of the negatives about Jerusalem is things close early here and are mostly closed on Friday and Saturday. Therefore, we headed to the Dome of the Rock this morning as it is only open from 7-11 Sun-Thurs. This is located in the Muslim quarter and we had to go through two different security gates/metal detectors before we were allowed entry …

Today was all about getting us oriented. Started the morning with the workout at 6:15 "as promised", and I suppose it was good. My experience traveling so far says that if you can keep your body thinking it's in its groove while making sure your mind knows it isn't, things will go well. So as indicated by the attractions seen column, we saw a lot …

Dead tired is also an option.

Goodness gracious morning seems like a long time ago, I suppose probably because it was. We had been talking for some time about going up to the Mount of Olives to watch the sunrise break over Jerusalem, and today was the day that made the most sense for that. The one real hitch in this plan is that the sun …

... and smelled holy to me. The most famous part of the old city is the Temple Mount.  It's easily recognized by the golden Dome of the Rock.  This is the site of the second temple built by King Solomon.  The Western Wall is one of the few ...

... going into some sites, but we pass. Then on to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.    Three major iconic sites (Dome of the Rock, Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulcher) in such a short time!  That is the part of being in Jerusalem ...

... as I had expected but it had been rebuilt a number of times due to natural disasters etc. The second building, The Dome of the Rock has a huge gold domed roof which dominates the skyline of the Old City of Jerusalem.  Underneath the dome is a large ...

... back in time, wipe out most of the buildings, add the large Second Temple on the Foundation Rock in place of the Muslim Dome of the Rock, destroy the Ottoman City Walls and build older, smaller city walls, add Romans and Pilate and temple priests, and ...

... ground that was worshipped long before it was seen as the Foundation Stone and Solomon built the First Temple.  The Dome of the Rock shone above from the High Point, perhaps the most contentious spot on earth, but also one that could become a ...

... to be.  At the same time, it feels out of place.  There's a large contingent of Arab Muslims in Jerusalem, but the Dome of the Rock just doesn't seem to belong.    In other parts of Jerusalem, while you might hear the call to ...

... Mount of Olives.  I think most people actually go to the Mount of Olives to get a nice view of the Old City with the Dome of the Rock front and center.  Our goal was to do this, but also to see the spot where Jesus was betrayed.  We ...

... catch the rest of the main sights. Before the sun was blazing over head, we climbed a church tower to glimpse at the dome of the rock which we had been denied entry. The dome had been closed to all but Muslims for months, to avoid conflicts which seemed ...

... inspiring experience. It was amazing to actually walk on Golgotha. The Western Wall was actually kind off a let down. The Dome of the Rock on the other hand was unreal. Even though I was not allowed to enter, seeing the towering structure from afar was ...

... don't violate the laws of the Sabbath, which jerks the visitor out of ancient wonder and back to modern reality. The Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock is off limits to Jews because of the holiness of the place (which makes me wonder what exactly Ariel ...