What Is al-Aqsa?
Introduction: Al-Aqsa mosque is the name for the whole area enclosed by the wall southeast Old Jerusalem. It houses nearly 200 ancient monuments, foremost among which are the Dome of the Rock (with the golden dome) at the heart of Al- Aqsa, and the Qibly mosque (Prayer Hall) (with the lead dome) in the southern part of Al-Aqsa, nearer to the Qiblah (the direction of the prayer) at Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The other monuments are minor prayer halls, domes, mihrabs (=chambers for prayer), schools, corridors, mastabas (=slightly raised grounds constructed for several uses including education), fountains, trees, pulpits, gates, wells, libraries, and other buildings.
Dimensions
: Al-Aqsa Mosque is a semi rectangle of 144 donums (=144,000 square meters); that is about 1/6 of the walled city of Jerusalem. Its western wall is 491 meters long, its eastern wall is 462m, its northern wall is 310m, and its southern wall is 281m. These boundaries have not changed since the area was first made a place for prayer, unlike those of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and Prophet Mohammad’s Mosque in Medina (the other most Sacred Places in Islam), which underwent several changes over history. Anyone who enters “Masjid Al-Aqsa” and performs “Tahyat al-masjid” Sunna Prayer, whether under a tree, or a dome, above a mastaba, or at a corridor, inside the Dome of the Rock, or the Qibly prayer hall, is rewarded as if they have performed 500 prayers at any place other than the Sacred Mosque and Prophet Mohammad’s Mosque!
It's the Gold & Greem Dome, and all the area in between and surrounding it!