مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - The Restoration of the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus After the 1893 Fire

Abstract :

The Ummayad Mosque in Damascus was built between705-715 by the Caliph Al-Walid I. The mosque has been damaged by fire many times in its history and after various natural disasters and demolitions it has been rebuilt and repaired. After claiming the caliphate, the responsibility of the Ottoman State to the major Islamic sacred sites and places continued until the beginning of the XX century, when the state was in a turmoil and was economically weak. In this context, the restorations made to the Masjid Nabawi by Sultan Mahmud II and Sultan Abdulmecid, together with all the other Ottoman Sultans from Suleiman the Magnificent onwards, should be remembered without ignoring Abdulhamid II and his public works undertaken in this region including this restoration work. In the period of Islamic Ottoman rule this mosque had been damaged repeatedly by fire and great works of restoration were undertaken. The last of these restorations took place in the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II. after a devastating fire in 1893, and major reconstruction work continued until 1897. This paper addresses this restoration work employing Ottoman archival documents.