Madrassa Halawiyya

Opposite the western entrance of the mosque, the former theological college Madrassa Halawiyya was built in 1245 and stands on the site of what was once the 6th-century Cathedral of St Helen. The prayer hall opposite the entrance incorporates all that remains of the cathedral, which is a semicircular row of six columns with intricately decorated, acanthus-leaved capitals.

For several hundred years the cathedral and the Great Mosque (built in the cathedral's gardens) stood next to each other, serving their respective faiths, who worshipped side by side in harmony. The cathedral was only seized by the Muslims in 1124 in response to atrocities committed by the Crusaders.