One of the places worth visiting or diziarahi in the Middle East is the Great Mosque of Damascus, better known as the Umayyad Mosque. He was one of the oldest and sacred in the world, located in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
In masjdi complex, in a small park next to the north wall there is the Tomb Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, famous heroes in Islamic history. In addition, the mosque is said to store a small shrine containing the head of John the Baptist, which considered a prophet by Christians.
Damascus is believed as one of the oldest cities in the world that mankind inhabited by successive civilizations. And among the civilizations that once proliferated in this city is Islam.
Umayyad Mosque which stood on ground considered sacred for at least 3,000 years. About 1,000 years before Christ, the Syrians build a temple-mosque at the site where the stand-a place of worship of Hadad, the god of storms and lightning. A orthostat basalt (rock) that comes from this period, pictorial sphinx, found in the northeast corner of the mosque.
In the early first century AD, the Romans arrived and built a large temple to the god Jupiter on the temple of Syria. This Roman temple stood on the porch of a rectangular (temenos), which measures about 385 meters 305 meters, with a square tower at each corner. Section outer temenos wall still survive, but almost nothing remains of the temple itself.
At the end of the 4th century, the temples into Christian holy sites. Jupiter Temple was destroyed and a church built on it as a gift to John the Baptist.
Emperor Theodosius (330 AD) forbade the worship of the gods and convert this building into a cathedral church by the name of St. John Baptist Church Basilica. The Church is believed to be the place to capture the head of John, and became the most important sites as
pilgrimage destination in the Byzantine era.During the Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 AD), Damascus became the capital of the Islamic world. The Umayyad caliph who ruled from Damascus over the entire region, from Spain through to India. Historically, Islamic civilization has left many beautiful buildings in Damascus, capital of Syria.
Umayyad Mosque (Umawi) built during the Caliph Al-Walid ibn Abdul Malik (88-97 H/705-715 M) of the Umayyad dynasty. Its architecture has an impact for the arts build mosques throughout the world. From this mosque, the Islamic architecture began to recognize the arches, square towers, and maksurah.
Initially, the Muslim conquest of Damascus in 636 AD did not affect the church, because the building was used jointly by Muslims and Christians. The building is still a church and increasingly attracting Christian pilgrims. The Muslims built mud-brick structure on the south wall so that they can perform prayers.
However, the Caliph Al-Walid finally destroy the church and build a mosque. Khalifah provide compensation for the Christians as compensation. It is said that the story, Al-Walid himself who started the demolition with gold rivet nails into the church.
At that time, Damascus was one of the most important city in the Middle East and became the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate. Umayyad Mosque was built with a magnificent structure, which involves thousands of workers and craftsmen Coptic, Persian, Indian and Byzantine.
Umayyad Mosque was renovated several times due to fires in the years 1069, 1401 and 1893. In 2001 Pope John Paul II visited the mosque, primarily to visit the relics of John the Baptist. This is the first time a pope visited the mosque.
Umayyad Mosque is one of the most impressive buildings in the Islamic world, a page that airy and spacious prayer hall. Some of the original mosaics of the 8th century are still preserved. Towers built in the Al-Walid also remains still survive until today.
Great Mosque Umayyad Mosque of Damascus or, sometimes also called the Mosque Umawi, very well worth a visit and become a pilgrimage destination if there is opportunity and ease to get there. He is one symbol of the triumph of Islam that is left up to now.
Source:www.republika.co.id
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