The compound contains Al-Qibli Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, smaller domes, courtyards, arcades, water structures and other historic buildings. The guide also describes spaces below the main courtyard level.[1]
The principal buildings and open spaces
The Dome of the Rock stands on a raised platform near the center, while Al-Qibli is the large covered prayer hall along the southern side. Around and between them are open courtyards, porticoes, freestanding arcades, smaller domes and prayer platforms. These open areas belong to the sanctuary in the custodial guide’s definition; they are not simply space outside a mosque building.[2]
Gates, schools and water structures
The enclosure’s western and northern edges include gates, historic madrasas and related buildings. Visible water architecture includes Al-Kas, associated with ablution, and the domed Sabil Qaytbay. Qaytbay’s sabil was built and renewed under several patrons, as its museum record explains.[3][4]
The site also has lower levels
A surface view is incomplete. The custodial guide identifies the Marwani prayer hall in the southeast, corridors called Ancient Aqsa beneath the southern mosque, and water infrastructure below the courtyard level. Explore includes lower-level records and a level filter, but its schematic points are not a measured plan of every room, route or underground feature.[5]
Sources & references
References are attached to the passages they support. Dates below record source consultation.
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
pp. 4–5
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
pp. 4–5, 8–15, 24–35, 44–45
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
pp. 36–57
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Sabil of Sultan Qaytbay · Yusuf al-Natsheh
Museum With No Frontiers · Consulted 2026-10-13
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
pp. 4–5, 16–23, 54–57, 66–67
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14