Damascus
The Minaret of Isa rises from the south-eastern corner of the Umayyad Mosque and, at about 77 metres, is the tallest of its three minarets. Damascene…
The Minaret of Isa rises from the south-eastern corner of the Umayyad Mosque and, at about 77 metres, is the tallest of its three minarets. Damascene tradition holds that Nabi Isa will descend at this minaret at the end of time, which gave it its name, and Ibn Kathir upheld this view. Its square main body was rebuilt by the Ayyubids in 1247, after damage in fighting in the city two years earlier, and the octagonal spire, tapering to a point and crowned with a crescent, was added in the Ottoman period. It is part of the Umayyad Mosque, which also holds the Grave of Nabi Yahya and the Maqam of the Head of Imam al-Husayn.