Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (660-750) was the third largest contiguous empire in the world. It reigned from Damascus and later Harran. After its demise in Syria, it survived on the Iberian peninsula and transformed into the Umayyad caliphate of Cordoba.
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Aleppo | Mixture of buildings including the Ummayad Mosque of Aleppo, built on the orders of the Ummayad caliphs | |
| Anjar | OUV: “outstanding example of 8th century town planning of the Umayyad caliphate” and “... an eminent testimony, precisely dated, of the Umayyad civilization.” | |
| Bosra | OUV: "there remain today extensive ruins of Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad buildings". The latter included Al-Omari Mosque: is an early Islamic-era mosque. The mosque's square minaret was one of the earliest examples of Umayyad-style minarets (wiki) | |
| Cordoba | Caliphate of Córdoba, a spin off from the original Umayyads of Damascus - built Great Mosque of Córdoba | |
| Damascus | Umayyad capital, Great Mosque | |
| Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town | The nomination dossier mentions that in Umayyad times was a pilgrimage site for the three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) | |
| Historic Cairo | Fustat (now part of Old Cairo) became a regional center of Islam during the Umayyad period. It was where the Umayyad ruler, Marwan II, made his last stand against the Abbasids. (wiki) | |
| Kairouan | Umayyad general Uqba ibn Nafi founded Kairouan | |
| Medina Azahara | The abandoned Caliphate City of Medina Azahara, being a new city planned and built as a state initiative, attests in an exceptional way to the Umayyad cultural and architectural civilization (OUV) | |
| Medina of Tunis | Founded the Medina of Tunis and built the Great (Olive Tree) Mosque of Tunis | |
| Old City of Acre | The first Umayyad caliph, Muawiyah I (r. 661-680), regarded the coastal towns of the Levant as strategically important. Thus, he strengthened Acre's fortifications (wiki) | |
| Old City of Jerusalem | Built the Dome of the Rock and rebuilt the Al-Aqsa Mosque | |
| Quseir Amra | OUV: "The Quseir Amra paintings constitute a unique artistic achievement in the Umayyad Period." and "an outstanding example of an Umayyad desert establishment." | |
| Toledo | Mosque of Bab Mardum (999): Umayyad in style | |
| Tyre | Carried out restoration and fortification works in the seaport of Tyre. | |
| Um er-Rasas | "The Outstanding Universal Value of the site resides in the extensive settlement of the Byzantine/Umayyad period." (unesco website) |
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