The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus was the most magnificent of its kind, but it had been destroyed by an accidental fire ten years ago.
The facade of the Umayyad Mosque featured a Romanesque arch over ten meters high, flanked by columns with crown-shaped capitals. Beyond the gate lay a square, open-air courtyard paved with tiles, its four walls decorated with colorful mosaic murals. The main hall, built of stone, measured 136 meters long and 37 meters wide. Its interior walls and columns were inlaid with marble, gold, and silver, and the main wall held four semicircular marble niches under a rounded roof.
The Muslims preserved the two original square spires on the south side of St. John's Cathedral and added a taller minaret on the north side of the Umayyad Mosque.
Within these walls undoubtedly stood Rimmon's House, mentioned in the Book of Kings (2 Kings 5:18).
Parts of a grand portico and two exquisite triple arches were still visible.
