The Minaret of the Bride
Named for its beauty, the northern minaret seems to have been built by al-Walid I. This would make it the first ever minaret. Erected against the enclosure wall, it was better able to resist earthquakes and the lower section of its elevation is original. However, a serious fire in 1174 caused the upper section to collapse, and destroyed its mosaic decoration, according to historical sources. It was reconstructed again after the 1759 earthquake, with the addition of four terraces and a bulbous top.
The Minaret of Jesus
Located at the eastern corner of the prayer hall, this minaret has a square base supporting a high slim octagonal tower with two terraces. The lower section of the square base is the corner tower of the ancient temenos . It was probably used for the call to prayer when Muslims and Christians shared the temple space. However, there is no indication that it was still in use in the mosque built by al-Walid, or that it was altered before the 11th century, when its existence as a minaret is first mentioned in the historical sources. The many fracture lines on the elevation attest to its successive collapse and restoration. The square base suggests a first building phase probably inspired by the Minaret of the Bride, and a second phase, in the 16th or 17th century, influenced by the Ottoman style.
The Minaret of Qaitbay (al-Meskiya)
This minaret, the last to be built, takes its name from the sultan who built it and the souk it overlooks. It consists of two distinct parts: the ancient tower of the temenos, probably used as the base of the bell tower for the Byzantine church, and a high octagonal tower. No alterations were made to this site before the 14th century when the minaret was probably built out of wood and brick, materials that offered little resistance to the fire that engulfed it in 1479. The current Mamluk-style minaret was commissioned by Sultan Qaytbay and altered twice. It was last modified after the 1759 earthquake which destroyed the aedicule on the top the minaret.
