Umayyad Mosque

One of Islam's most important buildings (its first great mosque), the magnificent Umayyad Mosque is Syria's most important religious structure. Its architectural and decorative splendour ranks with Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock, while in sanctity it's second only to the holy mosques of Mecca and Medina. It possesses a history unequalled by all three. The northern part of the mosque is an expansive, open Courtyard with a white limestone floor, flanked on three sides by a two-storey arched arcade. The fourth side is the façade of the prayer hall, dominated by a central section covered with enchanting, shimmering, golden mosaics.

Worship on this site dates back 3000 years to the 9th century BC, when the Aramaeans built a temple to their god, Hadad (mentioned in the Book of Kings in the Old Testament). It was a cousin to the great Temple of Bel at Palmyra and the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek. With the coming of the Romans the temple became associated with the god Jupiter and was massively expanded.

The walls of the mosque as seen today were just the inner court of the temple. Around this was a large courtyard with four access points - traces of two of these grand gateways still exist and are described in the Souq al-Hamidiyya and Sayyida Ruqayya Mosque sections. After Constantine embraced Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, Jupiter was ousted from his temple in favour of Christ. The former pagan shrine was replaced by a basilica dedicated to John the Baptist, whose head was said to be contained in a casket here.

When the Muslims entered Damascus in AD 636 they converted the eastern part of the basilica into a mosque but allowed the Christians to continue their worship in the western part. This arrangement continued for about 70 years. But, during this time, under Umayyad rule Damascus had become capital of the Islamic world and the caliph, Khaled ibn al-Walid, considered it necessary to empower the image of his city with 'a mosque the equal of which was never designed by anyone before me or anyone after me'.

Consequently, the Christians were elbowed out of the basilica while the Roman and Byzantine constructions were flattened. For the next ten years more than 1000 stonemasons and artisans were employed in building a grand new mosque. According to historical accounts, practically every wall was covered with rich mosaics, precious stones were set into the prayer niches, and the wooden ceiling was inlaid with gold and hung with 600 gold lamps. It cost seven years of taxes from the whole of Syria to build. While the mosque has been ravaged by invading Mongols, rocked by earthquakes and gutted by fire, what remains is impressive.

The tourist entrance is through the northern Bab al-Amara, and the ticket office is on the left; look for the amusing sign that says 'Putting on Special Clothes Room'. Here, women are provided with a hooded cloak that must be worn in the mosque, while men in shorts or sleeveless shirts will also be asked to don one. As in all mosques, shoes must be removed at the threshold. Photography is permitted.