Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
Ottomans
Further reading:
Association of Cypriot Archaeologists, 
Muslim Places of
Worship in Cyprus,
Nicosia 1990.
E.C.Aristidou, 
The Tekke of Hal Sultan,
Nicosia 1982.
C.Enlart, 
The Gothic Art and the Renaissance in Cyprus,
trans. and ed. D.Hunt, London 1987.
A.C.Gazioglu, 
The Turks in Cyprus: A Province of the
Ottoman Empire (1571–1878),
London 1990.
G.Jeffrey, 
A Description of the Historic Monuments of
Cyprus: Studies in the Archaeology and Architecture of the
Island,
Nicosia 1918 and London 1983.
—— 
The Mosques of Nicosia,
Nicosia 1935.
Cyprus (Turkish: Kibris; Arabic: Qubrus)

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Damascus
Capital city of Syria and one of the chief cities of the Middle
East.
Damascus is located in southern Syria on the banks
of the Barada river. The area of Damascus forms an
oasis on the edge of the Great Syrian desert. The
name Damascus is pre-Semitic and is mentioned in
Egyptian texts of the second millen-nium BCE. The
oldest standing remains date from the Roman
period and include parts of the city wall, columns
marking the lines of street, and the enclosure on
which the Umayyad mosque is built. During the
Umayyad period Damascus was established as
capital of the Islamic world which stretched from
Spain to Central Asia. With the establishment of the
Abbasid caliphate based in Iraq and later the
Fatimid caliphate in Egypt the status of the city
declined. In 1154 Nur al-Din established it as his
capital, and under his successors the Ayyubids it
was once again one of the principal cities of the
Islamic world. The Mongol raids of the second half
of the thirteenth century reduced the city to a
secondary role with Cairo established as the
Mamluk capital. The Ottoman conquest in 1516
restored the prosperity which was reinforced by its
position as starting point of the Ottoman Hajj
caravans. During the eighteenth century the city
was eclipsed by the commercial prosperity of
Aleppo, though Damascus remained the political
capital. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
in 1918 Damascus was re-established as an Arab
capital.
Mud brick and wood are the principal materials
of construction for traditional houses. The lower