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We made our own way to the Great Mosque or Omayyad Mosque via the Souk, which although massive with 12km of covered roads, wasn't as impressive as those in Damascus.So having lost our way within 5-minutes of entering the sprawl of shops we ended up asking the locals for directions again...and again a neighbourly soul walked us to our destination which is actually in the middle of the market.
Little remains of the original mosque structure and what we saw today dates mostly from the 12th century and later.It has recently been restored but still does not quite reach the glory of its Damascene counterpart which is its senior by only 10 years.The Great Mosque was built on the site of a former Roman temple and Byzantine cathedral and was founded in 715.Maria dressed up in the usual Jawa rig, we took off our shoes and made our way to the prayer room across the vast courtyard, famed for its pavement of black and white geometric patterns and 45 metre minaret.As I followed the crowd to a grate against the wall, wondering to myself what on earth everybody was looking at, a 'guard' dressed smartly in black shook his finger at me and pointed to the exit...oops, what have I done wrong here I thought.It turns out that the men pressed up against the grill, arms upraised and bodies slowly swaying to and fro in prayer were paying their respects to the shrine of Zachariah (father of John the Baptist), and I had been disrespectful by approaching it with my dirty shoes slung over my shoulder.
We wandered around for a bit, got a refund when we left as we'd been overcharged then headed back to the cafe before going to Aleppo for our second night in that crazy, crazy city.
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