The Great Mosque of Damascus

The Great Umayyad Mosque is located in Damascus, the capital of Syria. It is situated at the heart of the city, where the two main axes of the city, the "cardo" and the "decumanus", intersect. The Great Mosque of Damascus is the earliest surviving stone mosque, built between 705 and 715 CE by the Umayyad Caliph al-Walīd I, who proclaimed to his citizens: "People of Damascus, four things give you a marked superiority over the rest of the world: your climate, your water, your fruits, and your baths. To these I add a fifth: this mosque." Adjacent to the mosque is the tomb of one of the most illustrious Muslim leaders, Saladin, who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders. (A. Schreiber and G. Lotha, 2021) After the Muslim conquest of Damascus in 634, the mosque was built on the site of a Christian basilica dedicated to John the Baptist, honored as a prophet by both Christians and Muslims. A legend dating to the sixth century holds that the building contains the head of John the Baptist. (Burns, 2005) Two shrines commemorating Husayn ibn Ali (Arabic: الحسين مقام ,( whose martyrdom is frequently compared to that of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, exist within the building premises. The mosque is also believed by Muslims to be the place where Jesus will return before the End of Days. (Michael P. 2014). 

The_Great_Mosque_of_Damascus.pdf