Also known as Principal (Great) Mosque of Damascus, founded by
the Umayyad caliph al-Walid in 706 CE. The Great Mosque stands
in the centre of the old city of Damascus on the site of the
Roman temple platform, or temenos. The outer walls of the
temenos still survive and are distinguished as large blocks of
dressed masonry with pilasters set at intervals into the side.
At the four corners of the temenos there are large square towers
and around the edge there were arcades which opened into a large
rectangular courtyard. There were four axial doorways to the
temenos, that on the east being the principal entrance. At the
time of the Islamic conquest the Byzantine church of St John
stood in the middle of this platform. Immediately after the
conquest the Muslims shared this space with the Christians with
the Christians retaining possession of their church and the
Muslims using the southern arcades of the temenos as a prayer
area. In 706 al-Walid destroyed the church and built a mosque
along the southern wall of the