facts about umayyad mosque
Answers
Explanation:
If you live in a modern city, it can hard to imagine any of the buildings around you being all that old. Especially in the United States, where structures just a few hundred years old seem impressive. Well imagine one with a history 2000 years old!
Umayyad Mosque in 1862
Great Mosque Damascus 1862
Though built in the early 700s, the site of the Umayyad Mosque, or Great Mosque of Damascus, actually has a lot of differing religious history. The place started as a 1st century temple to the Roman god Jupiter, then later as a church of St. John the Baptist. Surprisingly, the church was actually shared by Muslims and Christians following the Islamic conquest of Damascus, Syria.
The church was built inside of the original walls of the temple, but was demolished to make room for the new prayer hall of the mosque. Since then, the mosque has been rebuilt several times due to fire, but its overall design has remained the same. It is one of only a few mosques to keep the same architectural style and design even throughout its history. The mosque is one of the oldest and holiest in the world, and had a huge influence on mosque architecture.