The Ummayad Mosque. An amazing space, made even more so by the juxtaposition between the narrow confined alleyways of the Old City and the cool, clean, open space of the courtyard. The site is a layer cake of religious history, with the mosque (contructed by Byzantine architects between 708 and 715) built right over a 4th century church dedicated to St. John the baptist (thrillingly, there is a reliquary inside the main prayer hall which purportedly contains his head*) This church was built on top of a Roman temple of Jupiter. And in the Aramean era there was a temple of Hadad here.
Along the south wall of the mosque, in fact imbedded in the wall is a remnant of the original entrance to the Roman temple, which bears the now highly ironic inscription: "Jesus Christ is the King over all dominions and Lord of all time"
The nearer structure is an ablution fountain said to be the midway point between Mecca and Constantinople.
Bus transit out of Syria into Jordan is straightforward enough. Everyone I asked told me to buy my ticket a day in advance to make sure I got a seat, so I dutifully marched over to the bus station early one morning to procure said ticket.
Once I had my ticket in hand I found out that the other major form of public transportation across the border is via Mopar.
Maybe next time...
Old and New, with Mount Qassioun in the background.
*Imagine my surprise when a week or so later, back in Istanbul at the Topkapi Palace I happened upon a display that held not only part of J the B's skull, but his whole RIGHT ARM!! Further research conducted here at the palatial offices of anthonysloan.com reveals that the head of John the Baptist is variously thought to be:
In Rome, secreted away by the Knights Templar.
Buried beneath the town of Halifax in West Yorkshire, England.
Somewhere in Antioch. (this one seems vague, and I certainly didn't run across it in my travels there)
Somewhere in the South of France
And possibly in the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Scetes, Egypt.
If you listen closely you can hear Dan Brown furiously scribbling a taut thriller on the subject.
