Template:POTD/2017-06-25

Picture of the day

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. One of the oldest extant works of Islamic architecture, the Dome of the Rock was initially completed in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna, built on the site of the Roman temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which had in turn been built on the site of Herod's Temple, destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. After the original dome collapsed in 1015, it was rebuilt in 1022–23, patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces. The site has great significance for Muslims owing to traditions connecting it to the creation of the world and to the belief that the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey to heaven started from the rock at the center of the structure. The rock also bears great significance for Jews as the site of Abraham's attempted sacrifice of his son.Photograph: Andrew Shiva