Al-Omari Grand Mosque
Al-Omari Grand Mosque () is a mosque in Beirut Central District, Lebanon. Overview. The Al-Omari Grand Mosque was originally the Church of Saint John and was built by the crusaders in the 12th century. It was converted into the city's Grand Mosque by the Mamluks in 1291. Damaged during the Lebanese Civil War, the mosque's refurbishment was completed in 2004. History. One of the most significant religious sites in the city, the Al-Omari Grand Mosque is also one of the most ancient. It was built in 635 BCE during the reign of  Islam's second Caliph Omar Bin El Khattab. It was converted into a church during the 12th Century however the Mamluks transformed it into a mosque again by the 13th Century. Reflecting traces of Byzantine architecture of the former church, the Mamluk style entrance and minarets are very striking. Renovated in 2004, the mosque is a treasure of Beirut. Similar Romanesque churches with triple apses were built in Tyre and Tartus, using recuperated material such as Roman columns and capitals. In 1291, the Mamluks captured Beirut and converted the church into a mosque. It was renamed Al-Omari Mosque in  the name of Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, it soon became known as "Jami’ Al-Kabir" (the Great Mosque). Its Mamluk-style entrance and minaret were added in 1350. During the French Mandate the façade was redesigned by adding a riwaq, or portico, and integrating the mosque's main entrance into the new colonnade of Maarad Street. Badly damaged during the Civil War (1975-1990), the mosque's refurbishment was completed in 2004 in a way that reveals the building's origins and history. A second minaret was built on the northwest corner of a new colonnaded courtyard. Beneath it , an ancient cistern with Roman columns and stone vaults has been preserved.