Marble
University of Notre Dame
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Great Mosque of Damascus: Ablution fountain and raised terrace, central courtyard

Date

Circa 1910

Location

Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries

The Great Mosque of Damascus constructed by the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (reigned 705-715), is a seminal monument of Islamic architecture. The site chosen was the holiest in the city, having successively held temples to the Syrian storm-god Hadad and Jupiter Damascenus and the church of John the Baptist (the mosque still contains a shrine to John the Baptist). The prayer hall used the existing propylaeum and is laid out internally on an east-west axis like a Christian basilica.

The Great Mosque of Damascus constructed by the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (reigned 705-715), is a seminal monument of Islamic architecture. The site chosen was the holiest in the city, having successively held temples to the Syrian storm-god Hadad and Jupiter Damascenus and the church of John the Baptist (the mosque still contains a shrine to John the Baptist). The prayer hall used the existing propylaeum and is laid out internally on an east-west axis like a Christian basilica.
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Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries at asklib@nd.edu.