On April 23, 2013, the minaret, dated back to 1090, that stood over the mosque was ruined during an on going war in Syria. President Bashar Assad's people, known as the regime, and the rebels turned the mosque into a battleground. The Umayyad Mosque had been suffering damage since October 2012 as both the regime and rebels tried to take the mosque at the heart of the city.
Citizens are extremely unhappy with the destruction. "This is like blowing up the Taj Mahal or destroying the Acropolis in Athens. This mosque is a living sanctuary,' said Helga Seeden, a professor of archaeology at the American University of Beirut. 'This is a disaster. In terms of heritage, this is the worst I've seen in Syria. I'm horrified." |
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Bibliography
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-Great Mosque of Damascus | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Great Mosque of Damascus | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
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-Umayyad Mosque (Damascus)." - 3D Virtual Tour. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.