Syria: Homs – Al-Whalid Mosque
The Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque in Homs holds the tomb of the Arab military commander who was responsible for the route of the Byzantine Empire from Syria and arrival of Muslim rule in the 7th century. The mosque is relatively new, built in 1908, but a small mosque and a shrine with the tomb existed in this place since the 7th century. The mosque was damaged during the civil war, but was one of the first buildings to be fully restored – it stands gleaming new now surrounded by near-total ruins of destruction all around it. The mosque is Ottoman in style with two slim minarets and an ornate interior full is Islamic calligraphy.
