A walk up to the Temple Mount is a time-honoured privilege sanctified by the thousands of pilgrims who have trod before you. An open plaza of cypress trees and ancient paving stones, the architecture that exists today dates back to the first Muslim conquest, around 1400 years ago, including the unmistakable Dome of the Rock. But the history of the Mount goes back much further, with the first Jewish temple having been built here a thousand years before Christ. There are few patches of ground as holy, or as disputed, as this one, and as such it’s one of the required stops on any visit to the Old City.
