The diocese never presented a formal title of ownership nor did provide a judicial sentence sanctioning the usurpation on the basis of a long-lasting occupation, with the sole legal argument being that of the building’s “consecration” after 1236, as a cross-shaped symbol of ash was reportedly drawn on the floor at the time. The building was formally registered for the first time by the Córdoba’s Cathedral Cabildo in 2006 on the basis of the article 206 of the Ley Hipotecaria from 1946 (whose constitutionality has been questioned). Muslim prayer has not been always banned outright and there are some cases of token concessions in the past, including Saddam Hussein’s prayer at the Mihrab in December 1974. The faded mural paintings inside the blind arches above the outer doorway include a depiction of Our Lady of the Assumption in the middle, with Saint Michel and Saint Raphael on the sides. Its current appearance dates from the work of Hernán Ruiz II, who took over work on the cathedral in 1547 after the passing of his father (Hernán Ruiz I). The small Postigo de la Leche (“Door of the Milk”) on the west side of the building has Gothic details dating from 1475.
El Alma de Córdoba
But that’s just what the mosque is – a peculiar but beautiful masterpiece that stands testament to 1500 years of human civilization. Being surrounded by Muslim architecture and peering into a church, all within the same building, is quite a peculiar experience. After the Christians reconquered Spain, the mosque was deemed too beautiful to destroy. Those were recycled by the Moors as they began work on the mosque. It’s the fact that the building tells the story of over 1500 years. Its roof is held up by a series of double arches made up of its iconic alternating red and white bricks.
Expansion of al-Mansur
The need to call the faithful to prayer led to the construction of a minaret by Hisham I, who came to power upon the death of his father, Abd Al-Rahman I, in 788. The hall’s eleven naves were comprised of two-tiered columns, made of jasper, marble and granite, which support the carved wooden-beam ceiling, a design which is known as hypostyle. This wall-less cathedral looks as though it was just plopped into the middle of the mosque – a truly strange sight to behold. In the courtyard, there are citrus trees and palms planted in rows mimicking the columns found inside the mosque. The arches are doubled, which at the time was a new building innovation, allowing for higher ceilings to be built. The columns of the mosque support the famous alternating red and white brick arches which are said to be inspired by the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
- Other chapels were progressively created around the interior periphery of the building over the following centuries, many of them funerary chapels built through private patronage.
- The design was drafted by Hernan Ruiz I, the first architect in charge of the project, and was continued after his death by Hernan Ruiz II (his son) and then by Juan de Ochoa.
- The ground plan of the completed building forms a vast rectangle measuring 590 by 425 feet (180 by 130 metres), or little less than St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
- The most significant alteration of all, however, was the building of a Renaissance cathedral nave and transept – forming a new Capilla Mayor es – in the middle of the expansive mosque structure, starting in 1523.
- The courtyard is known today as the Patio de los Naranjos or “Courtyard of the Orange Trees”.
Over time, Abd al-Rahman’s successors extended the mosque and enriched it with elements of Andalusian art. Using Roman and Visigoth elements and materials from the site’s previous structures, the mosque was completed in only two years. The hypostyle hall, Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba (1984) by Historic Centre of CordobaUNESCO World Heritage The Visigoths later replaced the temple with a church, only for that to be demolished in the 8th century to make way for the current building. Charles V only visited the cathedral after it was completed and was not too pleased. Over four centuries, the mosque was continually extended as Cordoba prospered.
Top Hotels in Cordoba
More famously, a rectangular maqsura area around the mosque’s new mihrab was distinguished by a set of unique interlacing multifoil arches. According to Susana Calvo Capilla, a specialist on the history of the mosque–cathedral, although remains of multiple church-like buildings have been located on the territory of the mosque–cathedral complex, no clear archaeological evidence has been found of where either the church of St. Vincent or the first mosque were located on the site, and the latter may have been a newly constructed building. An archaeological exhibit in the mosque–cathedral of Cordoba today displays fragments of a Late Roman or Visigothic building, emphasizing an originally Christian nature of the complex. It was built by King Henry II to fulfil the wishes of his father, Alfonso XI of Castile and León, who wanted to be laid to rest in the cathedral where his own father, Fernando IV, was already buried. Early alterations to the building were limited, with the cathedral’s first altar being installed below one of the skylights that was added to the building as part of Hakam II’s extension.
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This agreement lasted until 784 when the Muslim Emir Abd al-Rahman I purchased the church and demolished it to make room for the grand mosque of Cordoba. Unlike any other building in Spain, the Great Mosque of Cordoba tells the history of the Iberian Peninsula, starting with the Romans. To get to the top of the bell tower, a separate ticket is required which costs 3€.
The mosque-cathedral of Cordoba (locally known as the Mezquita) is one of the most impressive examples of Muslim architecture in the world. The area inside is made up of a forest of columns with a harmonious colour scheme of red and white arches. Some of the original building materials from the Visigothic basilica can still be seen in the first section of the Mosque built by Abderraman I. He enlarged the mosque again and provided it with a courtyard with porticoes. The Roman bridge was rebuilt, the walls were restored and on the left bank of the Guadalquivir was founded the suburb, called Secunda, today known as Campo de la Verdad.
The hypostyle hall
At the centre of the ensemble on the west side is a large episcopal throne, commissioned in 1752, that resembles the design of an altarpiece. The altar of the Capilla Mayor was begun in 1618 and designed in a Mannerist style by Alonso Matías. The first two architects introduced Gothic elements into the design which are visible in the elaborate tracery design of the stone vaults over the transept arms and above the altar. The design was drafted by Hernan Ruiz I, the first architect in charge of the project, and was continued after his death by Hernan Ruiz II (his son) and then by Juan de Ochoa. On two of the tower’s façades there were three of these windows side by side, while on the two other façades the windows were arranged in two pairs. The lantern tower was in turn surmounted by a dome and topped by a finial in the shape of a metal rod with two golden spheres and one silver sphere (often referred to as “apples”) decreasing in size towards the top.
Festival of the Courtyards of Cordoba
Under Abd Al-Rahman II, eight new naves were added to the south side of the hall, with new Moorish-made columns being erected next to the already existing Roman and Visigoth ones. Cordoba’s growing population meant that an extension of the prayer hall became necessary. This is the wall in a mosque which faces towards Mecca, although in this case, for reasons unknown, it actually faces south, rather than towards the holy city which is located to the south-east of Córdoba. In 785, the self-proclaimed emir ordered the construction of a mosque that was to be more beautiful than that of his homeland, Damascus. Today, Cordoba’s mosque-cathedral is a beautiful masterpiece that stands testament to 1500 years of Spanish history. The conquering christian forces were impressed with Cordoba and especially the mosque.
- The mosque-cathedral’s hypostyle hall dates from the original mosque construction and originally served as its main prayer space for Muslims.
- The Arabic inscriptions in the decoration around the mihrab are the first major example of a program of political-religious inscriptions inserted into Andalusi architecture.
- The Mihrab is a prayer niche found in mosques and the one found inside the Great Mosque of Cordoba could be the most beautiful in the world.
- The final element was the construction of the elliptical central dome of the transept, built between 1599 and 1607.
This is one of the reasons why the mosque, along with Cordoba’s historic center, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Under the rule of the Visigoths, the Basilica of San Vicente occupied this very site, and later, after the Moslems bought part of the plot of land, a primitive Mosque was built. The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba (World Heritage Site since 1984) is arguably the most significant monument in the whole of the western Moslem World and one of the most amazing buildings in the world in its own right. They began building new churches with a “Fernandino” style (in honour to the King Fernando III), also called the “reconquest style” (Hispanic-Gothic style). According to Arab sources, during its caliphate the city reached a million inhabitants, and had 1,600 mosques, 300,000 homes, 80,000 shops and countless public baths.
In the late 15th century a more significant modification was carried out to the Villaviciosa Chapel, where a new nave in Gothic style was created by clearing some of the mosque arches on the east side of the chapel and adding Gothic arches and vaulting. The first precisely dated chapel known to be built along the west wall is the Chapel of San Felipe and Santiago, in 1258. Other chapels were progressively created around the interior periphery of the building over the following centuries, many of them funerary chapels built through private patronage. Notably, during the early period of the cathedral-mosque, the workers charged with maintaining the building (which had suffered from disrepair in previous years) were local Muslims (Mudéjars). The area of the mosque’s mihrab and maqsura, along the south wall, was converted into the Chapel of San Pedro and was reportedly where the host was stored. The cathedral’s first altar was installed in 1236 under the large ribbed dome at the edge of Al-Hakam II’s 10th-century extension of the mosque, becoming part of what is today called the Villaviciosa Chapel (Capilla de Villaviciosa) and the cathedral’s first main chapel (the Antigua Capilla Mayor).
It also would have served as a hall for teaching and for Sharia law cases during the rule of Abd al-Rahman I and his successors. To the people of al-Andalus “the beauty of the mosque was so dazzling that it defied any description.” The flames reached the Chapel of Expectation, and after the firefighters intervened, the roof of this chapel collapsed under the weight of the water. Further restorations of features like chapels and some of the outer gates have continued to take place up to the late 2010s. Further research work and archaeological excavations were carried out on the mosque structure and in the Courtyard of fx choice review the Oranges by Félix Hernández between 1931 and 1936.
Construction began in 1593 but eventually stalled due to resources being spent instead on the construction of the new cathedral nave and transept happening at the same time. In 1589 a strong storm (or earthquake) caused damage to the former minaret, which was being used as a bell tower, and it was decided to remodel and reinforce the tower. The altarpiece was designed in a Mannerist style by Alonso Matías and construction began in 1618.
The minaret of the mosque was also converted directly into a bell tower for the cathedral, with only cosmetic alterations such as the placement of a cross at its summit. The mosque’s original mihrab (niche in the far wall symbolizing the direction of prayer) no longer exists today but its probable remains were found during archeological excavations between 1932 and 1936. The King immediately converted the mosque into a Catholic cathedral, though the actual building was left intact.
Nowadays, some of the constructive elements of the Visigoth building are integrated in the first part of Abderraman I. In this same place, and during the Visigoth occupation, another building was constructed, the “San Vicente” Basilic. Walk in the middle of the flowering season, the intimacy of the Cordoban courtyards opens up for the visitor. Some 850 pillars divide this interior into 19 north-to-south and 29 east-to-west aisles, with each row of pillars supporting a tier of open horseshoe arches upon which a third and similar tier is superimposed. Passing through the courtyard, one enters on the south a deep sanctuary whose roof is supported by a forest of pillars made of porphyry, jasper, and many-coloured marbles. The ground plan of the completed building forms a vast rectangle measuring 590 by 425 feet (180 by 130 metres), or little less than St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
The tensions that grow from these subverted expectations create an intellectual dialogue between building and viewer that will characterize the evolving design of the Great Mosque of Cordoba for over two hundred years. The mosque’s architectural system of repeating two-tiered arches, with otherwise little surface decoration, is considered one of its most innovative characteristics and has been the subject of much commentary. It served as a central prayer hall for personal devotion, for the five daily Muslim prayers and the special Friday prayers accompanied by a sermon. The Christian-era additions (after 1236) included many small chapels throughout the building and various relatively cosmetic changes. To the north is a spacious courtyard (the former sahn), surrounded by an arcaded gallery, with gates on the north, west, and east sides, and fountains that replace the former mosque fountains used for ablutions.
The most exquisite decoration in the whole complex is found in the third mihrab, or prayer niche, a small octagonal recess roofed with a single block of white marble that is carved in the form of a shell and has walls inlaid with Byzantine-style mosaics and gold. By leaving the mosque to coexist with the cathedral, the building is a physical repository of power struggles in Spain.page needed Additionally, it is a showcase of architectural hybridity, representing ideological intersections between Christianity and Islam.page needed Defenders of the ecclesial ownership argue on the basis of continuous and peaceful occupation of the building by the Church whereas defenders of the public ownership argue that the mosque-cathedral never ceased to be a State’s property, initially belonging to the Crown of Castile (and henceforth the Spanish State). After the mosque’s conversion to a cathedral in 1236, Spanish Christian designs were increasingly added to new or existing gates.