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| Mezquita - the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba is beautiful beyond description |
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| Double arches and originally more than 1000 columns give it a look reminiscent of a palm tree oasis |
Thursday, October 31, 2019 Cordoba
We started our tour of the Mezquita by entering the Deans Gate into the orange tree courtyard. We sat on a ledge to hear more about the history of the city and the region from our entertaining guide, Lola.
The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba has always played a symbolic but crucial role
in the rivalry between the Moors and the Christians. When the Moors invaded the town of Santiago de Compostela the then warlord leader Al-Mansur took the church bells of the cathedral to Cordoba to have them melted to make lamps for the Mosque. In turn, when the Christian King Ferdinand III and his men retook Cordoba he took the lamps from the mosque to have them melted to make new bells for the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
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| The minaret / belltower of the mosque from the 900s, remodeled in the 16th century for the cathedral |
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| Orange tress in the courtyard, originally the area to prepare for prayers in the mosque |
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| Our guide, Lola, an expressive story teller and historian |
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| Our tour group listening in the Courtyard of the Oranges to the history of the Mosque-Cathedral |
The Christian name is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, but Elena says everyone just calls it La Mezquita (The Mosque). The structure is regarded as one of the most accomplished monuments of Moorish architecture. By tradition, a small Visigoth church originally was located on the site.
The building of the Mosque proceeded in 4 separate phases, beginning in 784, under Abd al-Rahman I. We walked through all 4 phases of the building. When Cordoba returned to Christian rule in 1236 during the Reconquista, the building was converted to a Roman Catholic church. In the 16th century, a Christian basilica was inserted right in the center of the original Mosque, which messed up the visual pattern of the arches. On the other hand, according to Lola, the conversion probably also preserved it as well, as there are no other mosques that have survived in Cordoba.
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| The Door of the Palms -the original entrance to the Mezquita |
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| The rows of columns and sight lines in the original phase of construction of the mosque, from the 700's |
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| The double arches add height and light to the building; the columns are borrowed from previous Roman locations |
After its first rectangular building in 784, the mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd al-Rahman II ordered a new minaret and enlarged the mosque in the second phase, in 961 Al-Hakam enlarged the building again. The final phase was completed in 987 by Almanzor, which made the building essentially a square and defined the final outer boundaries and courtyard.
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| Transition from the first phase of building to the second (900s) and some Christian modifications of the large arch |
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| Reused columns and capitals include this beautifully carved column of alabaster |
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| Poly-lobed arches in this area, originally the maqsura, the antechamber to the mihrab, reserved for the caliph |
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| In Christian times, this beautiful maqsura area was converted into the Chapel of Villaviciosa |
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