The Dome
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DOME
On the 22nd of October 2021, an Innovative Dome Shelter Project of Hishams Palace was inaugurated. This project, which was funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) unveiled the magnificent mosaic of the main part of Hishams Palace; the Audience Hall and covered it with an innovative dome shelter to protect it and give visitors the chance to enjoy the beauty of the place. The large audience (reception) hall is located north of the palace. A formal entrance on the east passed through a domed porch into the enormous domed reception hall covered with multiple domes and eleven apses along the walls. The great treasure of this hall was a pavement of about 30 x 30m with 38 colorful mosaic carpets. The building once supported a series of vaults and domes. The vaulting system was of brick and rested on sixteen massive stone piers, in four rows. This building was decorated with carved stucco, stone reliefs and statues. Its upper parts had painted frescoes and a long pool was added along its southern side. The Caliphs statue stood above the main entrance. The Caliph himself probably sat in the recess at the far end of the hall. The thermal bath was added to the north side. It began with an entrance called a Frigidarium. Then the bath complex included two warm rooms Tepidaria, two hot rooms with steam heating (caldaria), two furnaces, and a communal latrine. This kind of bath (hammam) was a typical community structure of Byzantine and early Islamic towns. At the northern corner of the reception hall is the diwan, a small guest room, with an apsidal raised platform at the northernmost end of the chamber. The room had benches on both sides. The walls and dome were richly decorated with stucco panels and columns. The door of the diwan was paved with fine mosaics, including the world-famous scene of the tree of life.
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