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Umayyad Mosque
The Umayyad Mosque is a very old mosque in Damascus, Syria. It has a big dome, tall towers and a huge courtyard. People have prayed there for more than 1,300 years.
The Umayyad Mosque, also called the Great Mosque of Damascus, was built between 705 and 715 by the ruler al-Walid I. Britannica calls it the earliest stone mosque still standing. It is one of the largest mosques in the world, with a vast courtyard, a long prayer hall and walls that once shone with mosaics.
Built in 705 to 715 CE by the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I on a site used for worship for thousands of years, the Great Mosque of Damascus is, for Britannica, the earliest surviving stone mosque, and for UNESCO a masterpiece of Umayyad architecture and the heart of the Ancient City of Damascus World Heritage Site.
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Umayyad Mosque
The Umayyad Mosque is in Damascus, a very old city in Syria.
A mosque is a building where Muslims pray. This one is huge and very old. It has a big round dome, tall thin towers and a wide open courtyard.
The Umayyad Mosque stands in the heart of the Old City of Damascus, the capital of Syria. Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the world where people have lived without a break, and UNESCO calls this mosque one of its most spectacular buildings.
It was built about 1,300 years ago, between 705 and 715, by al-Walid I, a ruler of the Umayyad family, who made Damascus their capital. Britannica calls it the earliest stone mosque still standing. Its walls enclose a space 157 meters long and 100 meters wide, with a big open courtyard and a long prayer hall. UNESCO calls it one of the largest mosques in the world.
The Great Mosque stands within the walls of the Ancient City of Damascus, a World Heritage Site since 1979 that UNESCO describes as among the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The Umayyads, the first Islamic caliphate, made Damascus their capital, and UNESCO calls the mosque the incomparable monument of that era, a masterpiece of Umayyad architecture and the center of an urban plan that became a model for Arab cities.
Britannica describes it as the earliest surviving stone mosque, built between 705 and 715 CE by the caliph al-Walid I, and gives its enclosure as a quadrangle of 157 by 100 meters (515 by 330 feet). UNESCO adds that it is one of the largest mosques in the world and one of the oldest sites of continuous prayer since the rise of Islam.
- Where
- the Old City of Damascus, Syria
- Built
- 705 to 715 CE, by the caliph al-Walid I
- Size
- 157 by 100 meters
- World Heritage
- Ancient City of Damascus, listed 1979
One site, many centuries
Long before the mosque, other buildings for worship stood on this spot.
A ruler named al-Walid built the mosque. He was very proud of it! Over the centuries it was damaged by fire, and people repaired it again and again.
The ground under the mosque has been used for worship for thousands of years. In Roman times a temple stood here, and later a Christian church. The Umayyad ruler al-Walid I then built the great mosque on the site, and some old Roman stones are still part of it.
Al-Walid was proud of his new mosque. He told the people of Damascus that their city was already better than anywhere else for four things: its climate, its water, its fruits and its baths. Now, he said, they had a fifth: this mosque. Later, the mosque was destroyed in 1401 by the conqueror Timur and rebuilt, and it was damaged again by a fire in 1893.
Britannica says religious buildings have stood on the site for thousands of years, the earliest known relics coming from an Aramaean temple; a Roman temple followed in the 1st century, and a church was later built on its foundations. UNESCO describes the mosque as built on the site of a Roman temple and overlying a Christian basilica, and its brief summary speaks of an Assyrian sanctuary. Syro-Roman fragments survive in the structure.
Britannica quotes al-Walid I's boast to the people of Damascus that their climate, water, fruits and baths already set them above the rest of the world, and that he added a fifth: the mosque. The building was destroyed by Timur in 1401, rebuilt, and damaged by fire in 1893; Britannica says it could not be restored to its original splendor but remains an impressive monument.
Courtyard, prayer hall and dome
The mosque has a giant open courtyard with arches all around.
On one side is a long prayer hall with rows of columns. In the middle of the hall rises a big dome.
Inside its outer walls, the mosque has a large open courtyard surrounded by an arcade, a row of arches held up by slender columns. Along the south side runs the prayer hall, divided into three long aisles by rows of columns and arches.
Cutting across the middle of the hall is a taller section called a transept, crowned by an eight-sided dome that was first made of wood. The stone grilles in the south windows are carved in interlocking geometric patterns, the earliest example of this kind of pattern in Islamic architecture, Britannica says.
Britannica describes a large open courtyard surrounded by an arcade of arches on slender columns, and a liwan, or hall of worship, along the south side, divided into three long aisles by rows of columns and arches. A transept with a central octagonal dome, originally of wood, crosses the aisles at their midpoint.
The marble window grilles of the south wall are, Britannica says, the earliest example of geometric interlace in Islamic architecture. UNESCO places the mosque at the heart of a city plan derived from the Graeco-Roman grid, a plan that became the model for Arab Muslim cities.
Mosaics, minarets and marble
Long ago, the walls were covered with sparkly pictures made of tiny pieces of colored glass and stone. They showed a make-believe landscape.
Today, only some of these pictures are left. Tall towers called minarets rise from the mosque.
Long ago, the mosque's walls were covered with more than an acre of mosaics, pictures made from tiny pieces of colored stone and glass. They showed a dreamlike landscape. Only pieces of them survive today.
Tall, slim towers called minarets rise from the mosque. From high above, you can see the mosque's long, gray, sloping roofs, its dome and its minarets standing out among the crowded houses of the old city.
Britannica records that the walls were once covered with more than an acre of mosaics depicting a fanciful landscape, of which only fragments survive. The photo, taken from above, shows the mosque's long gabled roofs over the prayer hall, the dome over the transept and the minarets that rise from the enclosure, set among the dense fabric of the old city.
UNESCO lists the mosque among the 125 protected monuments within the old city walls, together with madrasas, khans, the Citadel and private houses, and notes that most of the city's built heritage dates from after the Ottoman conquest of the early 16th century.
- Prayer hall
- three long aisles
- Dome
- octagonal, over the central transept
- Mosaics
- once more than an acre; fragments survive
- Monuments around it
- about 125 in the old city
The mosque today
Today, the Umayyad Mosque is still a place where people pray.
Visitors come to see its courtyard and its old walls. It is one of the oldest places where people have prayed every day for hundreds of years.
The Umayyad Mosque is still a place of prayer. UNESCO calls it one of the oldest places of continuous prayer since the beginning of Islam.
UNESCO counts it among the 125 historic monuments in the Old City of Damascus, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. UNESCO also explains that the mosque stands at the heart of the old city's street plan, a plan that became a model for many later Arab cities.
UNESCO describes the Great Mosque as one of the oldest sites of continuous prayer since the rise of Islam and counts it among the 125 protected monuments of the Ancient City of Damascus, inscribed in 1979.
In 2013, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee placed all six of Syria's World Heritage sites, including the Ancient City of Damascus, on the List of World Heritage in Danger, to draw attention to the risks they faced because of the situation in the country. The listing was meant to gather international support for protecting them.
Amazing facts
-
This is the oldest stone mosque still standing.
Britannica calls the Great Mosque of Damascus the earliest stone mosque that still survives.
Britannica describes it as the earliest surviving stone mosque, built 705 to 715 CE.
-
The builder called his mosque Damascus's fifth great treasure.
Al-Walid I said Damascus was famous for its climate, water, fruits and baths, and that his mosque was a fifth wonder.
Al-Walid added the mosque as a fifth superiority to Damascus's climate, water, fruits and baths.
-
The walls were once covered with sparkly pictures.
More than an acre of mosaics once covered the mosque's walls. Only fragments are left today.
Over an acre of mosaics depicting a fanciful landscape once covered the walls; only fragments survive.
-
Its stone windows have patterns like woven ribbons.
The carved window grilles in the south wall are the earliest known example of interlacing geometric patterns in Islamic buildings.
The marble window grilles of the south wall are the earliest example of geometric interlace in Islamic architecture.
Words to know
- mosque
- a building where Muslims pray
- minaret
- a tall, thin tower of a mosque
- courtyard
- an open space surrounded by walls or buildings
- mosaic
- a picture made of many tiny pieces of colored stone or glass
- caliph
- a title used by leaders of the early Islamic states
- arcade
- a row of arches held up by columns
Discovery challenge
-
Which city is the Umayyad Mosque in?
In which city does the Umayyad Mosque stand?
Which Umayyad capital is home to the Great Mosque?
- Damascus
- Cairo
- Rome
Show the answer
Damascus
Damascus, in Syria!
Damascus, the capital of Syria, one of the oldest cities in the world.
Damascus, capital of the Umayyad caliphate.
-
Who built the mosque?
Which ruler built the mosque between 705 and 715?
Which Umayyad caliph built the mosque in 705 to 715 CE?
- Al-Walid I
- Napoleon
- Queen Victoria
Show the answer
Al-Walid I
A ruler named al-Walid.
Al-Walid I, of the Umayyad family, who ruled from Damascus.
The caliph al-Walid I.
-
What is a minaret?
What is a minaret?
What is the name for the tall towers that rise from the mosque?
- A tall, thin tower
- A kind of fruit
- A type of boat
Show the answer
A tall, thin tower
A tall, thin tower of a mosque.
A minaret is a tall, slim tower of a mosque.
Minarets; three can be seen in the photo from above.
-
What covered the walls long ago?
What once covered more than an acre of the mosque's walls?
Which decoration, now surviving only in fragments, once covered the walls?
- Mosaics
- Wallpaper
- Posters
Show the answer
Mosaics
Mosaics, pictures made of tiny colored pieces.
Mosaics showing a dreamlike landscape; only fragments survive.
Mosaics depicting a fanciful landscape, more than an acre of them.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Damascus and explain that the Umayyad Mosque was built in 705 to 715.
- Describe the main parts of a mosque: courtyard, prayer hall, dome and minarets.
- Understand that the same site was used for worship for thousands of years.
- Discuss why UNESCO places World Heritage sites in danger on a special list.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why do you think people kept building places of worship on the same spot for thousands of years?
- Al-Walid listed four things that made Damascus special. What four things make your town special?
- Why might it help to tell the world when an important old place is in danger?
Try at home or in class
- Draw a geometric interlace pattern on squared paper, with lines that weave over and under each other like the mosque's window grilles.
- Make a small mosaic by gluing torn pieces of colored paper onto card to show a landscape.
Key vocabulary: mosque, minaret, courtyard, mosaic, caliph, arcade
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Great Mosque of Damascus , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Ancient City of Damascus , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Syria's Six World Heritage sites placed on List of World Heritage in Danger , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.