Great Mosque of Aleppo

The largest and one of the oldest mosques in Aleppo, Syria, is known as the Great Mosque. It is situated next to the entrance to Al-Madina Souq in the al-Jalloum neighborhood of the Ancient City of Aleppo, a World Heritage Site. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is supposedly buried in the mosque; both of them are honored in Islam and Christianity.

Between the seventh and the thirteenth centuries, the Great Mosque of Aleppo was constructed. It is conventionally thought to hold the remains of the prophet Zechariah, the biological father of John the Baptist. Within the Old City's perimeter, it was one of Aleppo's biggest and oldest mosques.

The minaret of the Great Mosque, a lofty tower from which a crier summons Muslims to prayer each day, was constructed in the eleventh century. However, it was destroyed in 2013 while conflict broke out in Syria. What led to the tower's fall is still a mystery. Anti-government forces were occupying the mosque at the time, and Syrian President Bashar al-administration Assad's ascribed the damage to fighters from a group with ties to al-Qaeda. Rebels, however, asserted that the location had been devastated.

• Country: Syria