Construction began under the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I in 715, and later tradition says Sulayman finished it in 717. The site was once a Hellenistic agora. The Seljuks built the minaret from 1090 to 1094, with Hasan ibn Mufarraj al-Sarmini as architect. It stood 148 feet (45 m) tall, in five levels topped by a veranda.
The plan is hypostyle, with a courtyard of alternating black and white stone. The prayer hall has three naves lined with 18 quadrangular columns, and the domed maqsurah holds a tomb traditionally held to be Zechariah's. The Mongols razed the mosque in 1260. UNESCO listed the Ancient City of Aleppo in 1986.
The mosque was badly damaged on October 13, 2012. On April 24, 2013, the minaret was reduced to rubble, and each side blamed the other. Restoration began around 2017, and the mosque reopened for Ramadan in March 2025.
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