Al-Omari Grand Mosque

Al-Omari Grand Mosque
المسجد العمري الكبير
Religion
Affiliation	Sunni Islam
Location
Location	Beirut Central, Beirut, Lebanon
Geographic coordinates	33°53′51″N 35°30′19″E / 33.8976°N 35.5052°E / 33.8976; 35.5052
Architecture
Type	Mosque
Style	Romanesque
Date established	1291

Al-Omari Grand Mosque (

The Al-Omari Grand Mosque was originally a Roman temple to the god Jupiter. During the Byzantine era it was made into a Roman church, then under Islamic conquest converted into a mosque. During the Christian crusades it modified into the Church of Saint John in the 12th century CE. It was then converted into the city's Grand Mosque by the Mamluks in 1291 after the crusades ended. Damaged during the Lebanese Civil War, the mosque's refurbishment was completed in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

History

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One of the most significant religious sites in the city, the Al-Omari Grand Mosque is also one of the most ancient. It was built in 635 ACE during the reign of Islam's second caliph, Umar Bin El Khattab.

It was converted into a church during the 12th century. Similar Romanesque churches with triple apses were built in Tyre and Tartus, using recuperated material such as Roman columns and capitals.

In 1291, the Mamluks captured Beirut and reconverted it into a mosque. It was renamed Al-Omari Mosque after the second caliph, and soon became known as "Jami’ Al-Kabir" (the Great Mosque).

Its Mamluk-style entrance and minarets were added in 1350, reflecting traces of the former church's Byzantine architecture.

During the French Mandate in the first half of the 20th century, the façade was redesigned by adding a riwaq, or portico, and integrating the mosque's main entrance into the new colonnade of Maarad Street.

Badly damaged during the Civil War (1975–1990), the mosque's refurbishment was completed in 2004 in a way that reveals the building's origins and history. A second minaret was built on the northwest corner of a new colonnaded courtyard. Beneath it, an ancient cistern with Roman columns and stone vaults has been preserved.

Timeline

• 635: The mosque was built during the reign of the caliph Umar Bin Al-Khattab.
• 1150: The crusaders converted it to the Church of Saint John.
• 1291: The Mamluks recaptured Beirut and re-converted the church into a mosque.
• 1350: The Mamluk-style entrance and minaret of the mosque were added.
• 1975–1990: During the Civil War, the mosque was badly damaged .
• 2004: The mosque's refurbishment was completed.

See also

• Romanesque style

References

• Al-Wali, Sheikh Mohammad Taha (1973) Tarikh al-masajid wal jawami’ al-sharifa fi Bayrout, Dar al-Kotob, Beirut.
• Enlart, Camille (1904) "La Cathédrale Saint-Jean de Beyrouth" in: Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France: centenaire 1804-1904, Klincksieck, Paris: 121-133.
• Information provided by architect Youssef Haidar, Beirut.

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