Temple Mount, Jerusalem (must see)

Known to Muslims as Al-Haram ash-Sharif, meaning “the Noble Sanctuary,” this vast stone platform in the southeastern corner of the Old City has been holding Jerusalem’s attention for a very long time. According to both Jewish and Muslim tradition, this is the place where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son. Jewish tradition also identifies it as the site of the First Temple, built by Solomon in the 10th century BC, destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC, and centuries later, followed by the Second Temple.

That second sanctuary didn’t just sit here quietly either. In the 1st century BC, Herod the Great dramatically reshaped the area, expanding the Temple complex by enclosing a natural hill with massive retaining walls and filling the space to create the platform you see today. It was here, according to the Gospels, that Jesus overturned the tables of merchants and money-changers. The drama escalated in 70 AD, when Roman forces destroyed the Second Temple after a brutal siege. Ancient historian Josephus describes a city pushed to the extremes, marked by famine, violence, and collapse.

Today, the skyline is dominated by the golden dome of the Dome of the Rock, but the platform holds far more than its most famous landmark. Scattered across the enclosure are layers of Islamic architecture from the Umayyad, Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman periods—grammar schools, madrasas, arcades, and smaller shrines that quietly trace centuries of scholarship and rule. Nearby, stands the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites.

Access here is carefully regulated. Certain areas are closed off, and non-Muslims may enter only through the Moors’ Gate, with interior access to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa restricted. This is not a place to rush. Pause, look around, and remember: few spaces on Earth carry so many stories, beliefs, and turning points within a single stretch of stone.