Mosque of Omar

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Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem is located opposite the Southern courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After the Siege of Jerusalem by the Rashidun army under the command of Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Patriarch Sophronius refused to surrender except to Caliph Omar himself. Caliph Omar traveled to Jerusalem and accepted the surrender. He then visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Sophronius invited him to pray inside the Church, but Caliph Omar declined so as not to set a precedent and thereby endanger the Church's status as a Christian temple. Instead he prayed outside in the courtyard. Hence Mosque of Omar was built in its current shape by Ayyubid Sultan Al-Afdhal bin Saladin in 1193 CE in memory of this event. It has a minaret that was built before 1465 CE and was renovated by Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1839-1860).

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Minaret of the Mosque in the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

In this 1915 map, the Mosque appears south of the Holy Sepulchre in Muristan, near the vertical middle of the map.

The Mosque has been reserved for religious activities