30 C O N T E X T 1 5 0 : J U L Y 2 0 1 7 Qasr al-Zahrawi, a courtyard house in Homs (right and below) before the civil war (Photo: Daniel Demeter) When the reconstruction work was finished, several families were encouraged to come back and restore their houses. A young couple from the local community celebrated their wedding in the church as a sign of returning home. Palm Sunday and Easter prayers were fully celebrated in 2017. Several facilities, including shops, pharmacy and a cafe, have been operated in Al Hamidia by the locals, and the restoration of the church inspired the restoration of the other churches in the neighbourhood. Al Hamidia shares borders with Al Khalidia district to the north.This district is named after the Khalid ibn al-Walid mosque, which is the symbol of Homs city on signposts.The mosque is dedicated to the Arab Muslim leader, Khalid ibn al-Walid. The mausoleum of ibn al-Walid is believed to be topped by the mosque’s main dome.There are two tall minarets at the north-western and north-eastern corners, constructed of the traditional alternating horizontal rows of white-and-black stone.As the building was constructed during the Ottoman occupation, it has Ottoman Islamic architectural characters and a large courtyard. The building has one dominant dome with nine smaller domes.The walls, like those of St Mary’s, are of basalt. The mosque suffered in the conflict and reconstruction was started in 2015. Because of complications in the construction of the dome, the renovation took longer than the repair of the church. The same local skilled workers participated in the reconstruction, along with local conservation experts.The process encouraged a few Muslim families to reconstruct their houses. The restoration of these two historic religious buildings has been a catalyst for the reoccupation and rebuilding of residential districts. This small step provided sufficient inspiration to take the difficult move towards post-conflict reconciliation. The memory, identity, historic and religious values attributed to the two buildings is helping to put a new heart into the communities. The support of the local authorities has helped to rebuild trust. Homs should be an example for other cities in Syria of how restoring structures can lead to reforming communities. Ataa Alsalloum, formerly a lecturer at Damascus University, is a research associate at the University of Liverpool school of architecture. Iain Jackson is a professor and architect at the University of Liverpool school of architecture. Ataa Alsalloum, joint author of this article, at the age of 10 with a special Palm Sunday candle outside one of the Homs churches
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