The mosque of Omar is one of the most famous Muslim Holy sites of Jerusalem. The glory of the mosque has a beautiful name, and its remarkable history, and the fact that tourists often confuse her with the Dome of the Rock.

From the Temple mount, where the glittering Dome of the Rock, the mosque of Omar is quite far. She stands right in front of the Holy sepulcher, her fifteen-meter rectangular minaret perfectly visible from the courtyard of the Temple.

The name of the mosque owes to the great Muslim warrior and statesman, Caliph Omar (Umar) Ibn ABN-Khattab.

The son of a merchant, a lover of poetry, an expert martial artist, an excellent speaker, Omar initially did not accept the preaching of Islam and even threatened to kill the prophet Muhammad. At the age of 27 he, however, believed and became one of the closest companions of the prophet. Strong, physically powerful, possessed of extraordinary charisma, he played an important role in the battles that accompanied the establishment of the first Islamic state. After the death of Muhammad in 632, Omar became a close adviser to the Caliph Abu Bakr, and two years later, after the death of the Caliph, became his successor.

Under the direction of this great reformer of the Islamic Caliphate expanded at an unprecedented pace. In 637 ad the Muslim army appeared in the vicinity of Byzantine Jerusalem. Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender the city, provided that the keys from him will personally Caliph. Tradition says that one of the most powerful people in the world went from Medina to Jerusalem, accompanied by one servant, riding on a donkey and in a simple cloak.

The Patriarch personally conducted Khalifa in the city and invited him to pray in the Church of the Holy sepulchre, but Omar refused. The Caliph explained: if he accepts the invitation sophronia, following him to the temple will come to pray thousands of Muslims and Christians will lose their Holy place. The legend goes that the Caliph had hurled a pebble and began to pray on the site of his fall. It is here and is now the mosque of Omar.

The mosque was built after four and a half centuries after these events, in 1193, when Sultan al-Afdal (son of the famous warrior Saladin). The minaret appeared later, in 1465. In the nineteenth century, in the Ottoman era, the mosque was renovated.

Here is a copy of the contract of Omar, who gave security assurances to non-Muslim population of Jerusalem. However, not every tourist can see the unique document: to enter the mosque are only entitled to the Muslims for prayer.