The cross below is made up of five congruent squares. The perimeter of the cross is $72$. Find its area.
[asy]
import graph;
size(3cm);
pair A = (0,0);
pair temp = (1,0);
pair B = rotate(45,A)*temp;
pair C = rotate(90,B)*A;
pair D = rotate(270,C)*B;
pair E = rotate(270,D)*C;
pair F = rotate(90,E)*D;
pair G = rotate(270,F)*E;
pair H = rotate(270,G)*F;
pair I = rotate(90,H)*G;
pair J = rotate(270,I)*H;
pair K = rotate(270,J)*I;
pair L = rotate(90,K)*J;
draw(A--B--C--D--E--F--G--H--I--J--K--L--cycle);
[/asy]
1. **Determine the length of one side of the square:**
   The cross is made up of five congruent squares. The perimeter of the cross is given as 72 units. To find the length of one side of the square, we need to understand how many sides of the squares contribute to the perimeter.

   The cross has 12 sides contributing to the perimeter (each square shares sides with adjacent squares). Therefore, the length of one side of the square is:
   \[
   \text{Side length} = \frac{\text{Perimeter}}{\text{Number of sides}} = \frac{72}{12} = 6 \text{ units}
   \]

2. **Calculate the area of one square:**
   The area of one square is given by the square of its side length:
   \[
   \text{Area of one square} = 6^2 = 36 \text{ square units}
   \]

3. **Calculate the total area of the cross:**
   Since the cross is made up of five congruent squares, the total area is:
   \[
   \text{Total area} = 5 \times \text{Area of one square} = 5 \times 36 = 180 \text{ square units}
   \]

The final answer is \(\boxed{180}\)