Umayyad Mosque

The Umayyad Mosque is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world, located in Damascus, Syria. It has a long history of use as a house of worship, dating back to the Iron Age when it was a temple dedicated to the Aramaean god of rain, Hadad. The site was later converted into a Roman temple, a Christian cathedral, and a small prayer house for Muslims before being transformed into a grand congregational mosque under the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I. The mosque was built over nine years with thousands of laborers and artisans, and featured a large basilical plan with a central nave and three parallel aisles. The mosque has undergone several changes and renovations over the centuries, including the addition of new structures and the restoration of damaged areas, but it remains one of the few mosques to maintain its original form and architectural features.learn more on wikipedia