1000 Places to See Before You Die 3 - Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria
In 2010 my friend went to Damascus for a few months to study Arabic. Luckily I had time to come and visit her for about a week, and got a chance to cross a few things off the "must-see" list. Including the Umayyad Mosque. Tourists were welcome in the mosque as long as you wore a snazzy robe, provided by the entrance, to cover up. With the unrest in the area nowadays I don't know if the mosque is still open to casual visitors, so please make sure you have updated information on accessibility before you go.
Excavations done in the courtyard of the mosque shows that Damascus can trace its origin as far back as the third millennium BC. The mosque is placed right next to the main marketplace of the city and makes for a nice, relaxing resting place from the bustle. The name of the Umayyad mosque derives from the dynasty of rulers under which it was constructed.
The mosque itself is one of the largest and oldest in the world. It was built in 706 AD after the Arabic conquest of the city in 634 AD, on the site of a Christian basilica dedicated to John the Baptist. Legend has it that the head of this saint is buried in the mosque. Many other mosques around the world are based on the architecture of the Umayyad mosque, as this is one of the few early mosques that have not undergone extensive renovations and it retains many of its original features.
On March 5th 2011 this was the site of the beginning of the protests eventually leading to the Syrian civil war.
I enjoyed our visit to the mosque, but seeing as I am not really a religious person I was there more for the history and not so much for the spiritual aspects. It would probably help if you are generally interested in Islam or Muslim architecture.
Sources: All facts are from the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz and the Umayyad Mosque page on Wikipedia
Excavations done in the courtyard of the mosque shows that Damascus can trace its origin as far back as the third millennium BC. The mosque is placed right next to the main marketplace of the city and makes for a nice, relaxing resting place from the bustle. The name of the Umayyad mosque derives from the dynasty of rulers under which it was constructed.
The mosque itself is one of the largest and oldest in the world. It was built in 706 AD after the Arabic conquest of the city in 634 AD, on the site of a Christian basilica dedicated to John the Baptist. Legend has it that the head of this saint is buried in the mosque. Many other mosques around the world are based on the architecture of the Umayyad mosque, as this is one of the few early mosques that have not undergone extensive renovations and it retains many of its original features.
On March 5th 2011 this was the site of the beginning of the protests eventually leading to the Syrian civil war.
I enjoyed our visit to the mosque, but seeing as I am not really a religious person I was there more for the history and not so much for the spiritual aspects. It would probably help if you are generally interested in Islam or Muslim architecture.
Sources: All facts are from the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz and the Umayyad Mosque page on Wikipedia
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