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Home to the Kaaba, the first house of worship built for humanity, and the direction every Muslim faces in prayer, everywhere in the world.
Makkah sits in a narrow valley in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, about 340 km (210 miles) south of Madinah and roughly 70 km inland from the Red Sea coast. At its center is the Kaaba, inside Masjid al-Haram — the qiblah every Muslim faces in every prayer, everywhere on earth, and the destination of Hajj and Umrah.
إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍۢ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِى بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًۭا وَهُدًۭى لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
"Indeed, the first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at Bakkah — blessed and a guidance for the worlds."
"Bakkah" is the name the Quran itself uses here — most commentators take it as an older name for Makkah, or the name of the sacred area immediately around the Kaaba specifically. The Kaaba's construction, in its form known today, is tied to Ibrahim and his son Ismail:
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ ٱلْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ ٱلْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ
"And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], 'Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing.'"
See the full account in the story of Ibrahim. The Kaaba they raised has been rebuilt and repaired several times since — after flood damage, and once during the Prophet's ﷺ own lifetime before his prophethood — but the location and the basic form have remained the same.
A prayer here carries the greatest reward of any mosque in the world — greater even than the Prophet's own mosque in Madinah:
صَلاَةٌ فِى مَسْجِدِى هَذَا أَفْضَلُ مِنْ أَلْفِ صَلاَةٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ إِلاَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ وَصَلاَةٌ فِى الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ مِائَةِ أَلْفِ صَلاَةٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ
"One prayer in my mosque is better than one thousand prayers elsewhere, except the Sacred Mosque; and one prayer in the Sacred Mosque is better than one hundred thousand prayers elsewhere."
Sunan Ibn Majah 1406
Set into the Kaaba's eastern corner — the start and end point of every circuit of tawaf.
The low, crescent-shaped wall on the Kaaba's northwest side. Widely held to be part of the original structure — praying inside it counts as praying inside the Kaaba, though it isn't part of the tawaf path itself (tawaf goes around it).
The wall section between the Black Stone and the Kaaba's door — a spot where many pilgrims linger for dua when the crowd allows.
A stone bearing a footprint impression, traditionally where Ibrahim stood while building the Kaaba. After tawaf, it's sunnah to pray two rak'ahs near it if space allows (see the Umrah guide for the full sequence).
The well that sprang for Hajar and the infant Ismail — see the story of Ismail. Its water is provided throughout the mosque today via modern distribution, not drawn directly from the well itself.
The two hills connected by the covered walkway used for Sa'i — the seven-trip walk that's part of both Hajj and Umrah. Full details on the Umrah guide.