Well of Souls, Sacred cave under the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Israel

The cave sits beneath the Dome of the Rock and forms a natural chamber measuring six meters on each side, with a ceiling height between one and a half and two and a half meters. Walls and floor are bare rock, and light filters down softly through the shrine above.

The Crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099 and turned the Dome of the Rock into a church, Templum Domini, venerating the cave below as the Holy of Holies and as the site of the archangel's announcement of John the Baptist's birth. They cut away much of the rock to make staircases, paved the Stone with marble slabs, enlarged the cave's main entrance and probably created the shaft rising from the centre of the chamber. The 16 marble steps of the entrance passage are thought to date from this Crusader period.

Islamic tradition holds that souls gather in this underground chamber beneath the Foundation Stone, waiting for the Day of Judgment. Visitors step into a space that carries deep spiritual weight in Muslim belief and has been revered for centuries.

Visitors descend 16 marble steps through a narrow entrance to reach the chamber below. The low ceiling calls for careful movement in some places, and the space stays cool even on hot days.

The shaft rising from the centre of the chamber was probably cut by the Crusaders, who enlarged the main entrance and paved the Foundation Stone with marble slabs after taking Jerusalem in 1099. The explorer Richard Burton tried in 1871 to have the hollow-sounding slab in the centre opened, but was refused.