page_title: Mazar (mausoleum)
section_title: In Syria
hierarchical_section_title: Mazar (mausoleum) / Notable examples / In Syria
caption_attribution_description: English: Main hall of the Masjid al-Nuqtah in Aleppo, Syria.
context_page_description: A mazār, or darīh in the Maghreb, is a mausoleum or shrine in some places of the world, typically that of a saint or notable religious leader. Medieval Arabic texts may also use the words mašhad or maqām to denote the same concept. Another synonymous term mostly used in Palestine and in older Western scholarly literature is wali or weli.
context_section_description: The Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, which holds the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali in Damascus, has been restored with the help of contributions from Shias from India, Pakistan, Iran and elsewhere. The shrine is one of the most important Shia sites in Syria, and draws many pilgrims from Iraq, Lebanon and Iran. In September 2008 a car bomb was detonated outside the shrine, killing 17.
  In Aleppo, the Mashhad al-Husayn from the Ayyubid period is the most important of Syrian medieval buildings. The shrine of al-Husayn was built on a place indicated to a shepherd by a holy man who appeared to him in a dream, and was built by members of the local Shia community. The present building is a reconstruction: the original suffered severe damage in 1918 from a huge explosion, and for forty years lay in ruins. The original restoration largely succeeded in restoring the mashhad to its former appearance. Later additions included covering the courtyard with a steel frame canopy and adding a brightly decorated "shrine", which have given the monument a very different character from the original.
caption: Mashhad al-Husayn in Aleppo, restored and with steel-frame roof added.
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