What is the connection between the Dome of The Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque?
Dome of The Rock is the one with the gold dome. Dome of the Rock is for women only. Built on a platform over the rock of Mt. Moriah more than 1300 years ago by the Muslim Umayyad Caliph AbdulMalek bin Marwan, it was completed in 691 AD. Al Aqsa Mosque is the one on the south part of the temple mount the one with the gray small dome. Al-Aqsa is for men only. The first Al-Aqsa Mosque was constructed of wood by the Umayyads in 710 AD, only a few decades after the Dome of the Rock. The structure has been rebuilt at least five times; it was entirely destroyed at least once by earthquakes. The last major rebuild was in 1035. When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, Al-Aqsa became the headquarters of the Templars. Their legacy remains in the three central bays of the main facade. In the mid-14th century the Mamelukes added an extra two on either side, resulting in the seven bays that stand today.
