Restoration work continues in the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo, and the southern side is nearing completion

Skillful hands innovate in carving, installing and rebuilding every stone that was demolished and ravaged by terrorism in the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo, while its unique minaret with its urban style rises little by little, announcing its rebirth and to see the light by the efforts and expertise of the best Aleppine builders who are working on the wooden doors, the eastern part adjacent to the old markets, the northern outer wall, and the western part overlooking the blacksmiths market.

Dr. Sakhr Olabi, director of the Rehabilitation and Restoration Project of the Great Umayyad Mosque, explained that the mosque, which dates back to more than 1,300 years, was subjected to acts of sabotage that caused damage to it, but it did not witness systematic destruction like the one carried out by terrorist organizations during the years of the war on Syria. The Syrian Arab Army defeated terrorism and liberated the city and the movement of reconstruction began again in the mosque, where the collapsed parts were documented, the stones were sorted and numbered, and their resistance was measured to be used again in the construction process.

The restoration work on the tribal side and the main prayer hall of the mosque is nearing completion, according to Olabi, indicating that it included the restoration of walls, columns, ceilings, floors and the facade overlooking the courtyard of the mosque, where the wooden doors were installed and everything related to technical and electrical works. Construction and restoration work continued in the eastern part adjacent to the market where the walls were built and the exterior ceilings finished.

Olabi referred to the advanced works in the unique minaret of the mosque, where its collapsed stones were reassembled after it was blown up by terrorists, and the good ones were used in rebuilding after treating them in the required manner with their writings, letters and architectural inscriptions and building their inclusion from the inside, as well as continuing the restoration of the external facade of the mosque and preparing to start with the floor that forms a painting completely decorative.

The restoration and construction work in the mosque tells that the restoration work began after removing the rubble and sorting the stones, despite the difficulties encountered in securing stones, raw materials and expert labor, and the restoration work reached advanced stages, especially in the minaret, which needs accuracy.

The carpentry and arabesque workshop show that the wooden arches above the doors are being manufactured manually and decorated, as they were using dried walnut and oak wood, while a number of construction workers talked about the work of preparing the large stones and lifting them in preparation for use in the process of building the minaret and the walls.

NR