DOME OF THE ROCK

One of the greatest architectural designs in the world with notable dome is the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine and a major landmark located on the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem. It was completed in 691, making it the oldest extant Islamic building in the world. The Dome is in the shape of a Byzantine martyrium, a structure intended for the housing and veneration of saintly relics, and is an excellent example of middle Byzantine art. It was reported that surplus funds consisting of 100,000 gold dinar coins were melted down and cast on the dome’s exterior, “which at the time had a strong glitter that no eye could look straight at it.”