Church of Saint John the Baptist

The advent of Christianity as the official creed of the Roman Empire eliminated the need for colossal temples attracting pilgrims from all over the country. Under the new faith, numerous churches were built so each village and each quarter could have its own oratory. The Roman temple of Damascus was modified accordingly as its peribolos lost its religious function and acquired a distinctly commercial character. Towards the end of the 4th century AD under the emperor Theodosius, the temple of Jupiter was transformed into the Church of St. John. The tradition of the burial of Saint John the Baptist's head at this location, however, is no older than the late 6th century. The location of the main entrance to the edifice was probably reoriented from the eastern wall of the temenos to its southern wall; the latter entrance was blocked later. A Greek inscription remains above the southern gateway, proving that the Roman temple, or part of it, was indeed converted to a Byzantine church. The writing is an adaptation of Psalm 145.13: "Thy Kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting Kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." 

The first figure represents a reconstruction of the Byzantine Church at the time of the Arab Muslim conquest, prior to its replacement by the ʾUmayyād Mosque. 

Ross Burns. Damascus, a History. Routledge 2005.

K A C Creswell. Early Muslim architecture. Oxford 1932.