DAMASCUS: The Sulaymaniyya Takiyya Mosque in Damascus has reopened following the completion of a 15-year restoration and rehabilitation project. Minister of Endowments Mohammad Abu Al-Khair Shukri led the reopening ceremony, which was also attended by the ministers of finance, culture and tourism, the Damascus governor and other officials. “Today, we open a cultural landmark and an educational and social edifice that the Levant is proud of, not merely a mosque,” Shukri said. The Islamic endowment in Damascus represented a living witness dating back 500 years to social solidarity, feeding those in need and caring for pilgrim caravans, he said. Reactivating mosques, maintaining their educational and preaching mission and preparing those who run them was an integral part of the Endowments Ministry’s mission, he said. Culture Minister Mohammad Yassin Al-Saleh said that the reopening of the mosque was a step on the path to recovery and restoring light to the landmarks of Damascus and the Syrian Arab Republic, describing it as a cultural and historical edifice embodying Syrians’ collective memory. Preserving identity and heritage was a national responsibility in which the efforts of all institutions across the provinces must be integrated, he said. The Sulaymaniyya Takiyya complex was built in the 16th century, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and designed by the architect Mimar Sinan. Comprising a mosque, seminary, guesthouse for pilgrims and a soup kitchen it has long served as a center for religious education and charitable work in Damascus.