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Home > Attractions > Mosque of Omar

Mosque of Omar

St. Helena Rd, Jerusalem
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Photo: Mosque of Omar

Often confused with the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, the Mosque of Omar is a far more modest structure located elsewhere in the Old City of Jerusalem, across from the main entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It was built in the 12th century on the site where Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khattab accepted the city’s surrender from the Byzantines following a brief siege in 638 CE.

It is told that Omar traveled to Jerusalem after the city’s Patriarch Sophronius stated that he would only surrender to the Caliph himself. When Omar arrived, the Patriarch asked if he would pray inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Omar, however, refused, opting instead to pray in the courtyard in order to preserve the Church’s Christian status.

The mosque has a distinctively square, 15-meter high minaret that was built in the 15th-century and renovated some 300 years later. Its base contains some Crusader masonry. The mosque is accessible down a short staircase from Christian Quarter Road and is generally open exclusively to Muslims.

Near By (Up to 10 minutes walk)