Umayyad Mosque
The Grand Mosque of Damascus, also known as the Umayyad Mosque (Arabic: جامع بني أمية الكبير, transl. Ğām' Banī 'Umayyah al-Kabīr), is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world.It is in one of the holiest sites in the old city of Damascus. It is also very important because of its architecture.
The mosque holds a shrine which is said to contain the head of John the Baptist (Yahya), honored as a prophet by Muslims and Christians alike. The head was supposedly found during the excavations for the building of the mosque. The tomb of Saladin stands in a small garden adjoining the north wall of the mosque.
In 2001, Pope John Paul II visited the mosque, primarily to visit the relics of John the Baptist. It was the first time a pope paid a visit to a mosque.
Images
The Shrine with the head of St. John the Baptist
John the Baptist (or Yahya)'s Shrine inside the Mosque
The courtyard of the Mosque with the ancient Treasury (Beit al Mal)
Umayyad Mosque Media
Remains of an old Roman-era triple doorway in the exterior southern wall of the mosque[1]
Floor plan of the mosque (today), with the courtyard above and the three-aisled prayer hall below
Remnants of original marble paneling around the inside of Bab Jairun, the east gate of the mosque[2]
Western portico of the courtyard, with partial remains of mosaic decoration[3]
Dome of the Treasury, built in 789–90
Umayyad Mosque as depicted in the Book of Wonders, a late 14th-century Arabic manuscript
1842 daguerreotype by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (the earliest photography of the site)
1862 photograph of the main prayer hall facade, from the courtyard looking south-east, with the Minaret of Isa in the background
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This short article about a place or feature can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.- ↑ Burns 2009, pp. 104-105.
- ↑ Burns 2009, pp. 103.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Burns 2009, p. 102.
- ↑ Ettinghausen, Grabar & Jenkins-Madina 2001, p. 25.