Qualla: Great Mosque of Aleppo

Great Mosque of Aleppo: Introduction

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit sorry We, Syrian people, CC BY-SA 3.0. The minaret fell on a day in April. Built in 1090, the 45-meter tower of the Great Mosque of Aleppo had stood for 923 years when it was destroyed during fighting in the Syrian Civil War in April 2013. Each side blamed the other. What was indisputable was the loss: according to the encyclopedia of Islamic art, that minaret was "quite unique in the whole of Muslim architecture." Carved Kufic and naskhi inscriptions decorated its entire surface, alternating with bands of stylized ornaments and muqarnas. The mosque it rose from -- also known as the Great Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo -- was the largest and one of the oldest in the city, first built during the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century on ground that had been, in earlier centuries, a Greek agora and the garden of a Christian cathedral.

Read more: Great Mosque of Aleppo on Qualla

Image: sorry We, Syrian people | CC BY-SA 3.0

Great Mosque of Aleppo: Agora, Cathedral, Mosque

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. The layers beneath the Great Mosque tell the story of Aleppo itself. During the Hellenistic period, the site was an agora -- a civic gathering place. Under Roman rule, it became the garden of the Cathedral of Saint Helena. When the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I began construction of ...

Read more: Great Mosque of Aleppo on Qualla

Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

Great Mosque of Aleppo: The Minaret That Was Unique

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit مجد محبّك, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1090, the Shia Muslim qadi of Aleppo, Abu'l Hasan Muhammad, commissioned the minaret at the mosque's northwest corner during the reign of Seljuk governor Aq Sunqur al-Hajib. The architect, Hasan ibn Mufarraj al-Sarmini, completed the work by 1094. The structure rose five level...

Read more: Great Mosque of Aleppo on Qualla

Image: مجد محبّك | CC BY-SA 3.0

Great Mosque of Aleppo: Burned by Mongols, Looted by War

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. The mosque has a long history of violence. In 1281, Mongol forces burned the building, and the minbar was seized by the Armenians of Sis. The Mamluks, who controlled Aleppo from 1260 to 1516, made repairs and alterations, keeping the mosque functional through centuries of regiona...

Read more: Great Mosque of Aleppo on Qualla

Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

Great Mosque of Aleppo: The Shrine of Zechariah

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Xvlun, CC BY-SA 2.5. The mosque's maqsurah -- a screened enclosure within the prayer hall -- housed a tomb of particular significance. It was believed to contain the remains of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, a figure revered in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism alike. The shrine was decora...

Read more: Great Mosque of Aleppo on Qualla

Image: Xvlun | CC BY-SA 2.5

Great Mosque of Aleppo: Rebuilding What Cannot Be Replaced

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mappo, CC BY-SA 4.0. Syrians began restoration work even before the fighting fully ended. The effort has been slow and underfunded. Reports from 2024 indicated the mosque had been partially reopened, though other sources said repairs were still ongoing. In March 2025, the mosque was opened for the mo...

Read more: Great Mosque of Aleppo on Qualla

Image: Mappo | CC BY-SA 4.0