The Mosque of Córdoba

When the Moors conquered Córdoba in 785 they began to construct a large Mosque on the site of the Church of St Vincent.

That the Mosque was present in Córdoba, the capital of Al-Andalus (the name of the Muslim territory in the Iberian peninsula), no doubt contributed to it becoming the most important sanctuary of western Islam as the site of religious, social, cultural and political activities.

The original building was divided into the ablutions courtyard and the hall of prayer and, while apparently inspired by the Mosque of Damascus, it is said that there seems to be a Hispanic-Roman influence manifest, for example, in the alternating brick and stone (red and beige) in the arches. If the division into 2 courtyards is still present, we were not able to locate them - but, due to Easter week schedule changes we had only 30 minutes in this very large place, so we could easily have missed much. In any case, I won't make any attempt to describe this amazing building but rather hope the photos will give some impression of the spectacular character of the Mosque.

The main addition in the first expansion of the Mosque was to add a minaret which is now embedded in the tower of the cathedral (yes, I said cathedral about which more in a bit).

The next addition, with contributions from Byzantine artists and architects and a Christian Emperor to the mihrib (a sacred place beside which the imam leads prayer), apparently added such splendour that this Mosque replace the Mosque in Damascus as the "gold standard".

The final expansion was apparently the most extensive but of construction quality in order to control costs - for example, it is said that the alternating colours in the arches build during this expansion are are produced with paint rather than bricks and stones.

Among the unique characteristics of this building is the presence of a Christian cathedral within the confines of this obviously Muslim structure.  When the Christians reconquered Córdoba in 1236 they began a "purification" ceremony that would "turn each stone of the Mosque into a site consecrated to Christ" and dedication of the "cathedral" was celebrated in 1236 with the first eucharistic ceremony taking place below the skylight put in place by Al-Hakam II.

The purpose of the purification ceremony was to "restore the cult that had been interrupted by Islamic domination" and to compensate for the "inconvenience of celebrating Liturgy amid a sea of columns".

The actual construction of the cathedral within the mosque began in 1523. And, it is to the credit of those responsible for decision making that, unlike many Muslim areas reconquered by the Christians, they opted to spare this magnificent structure and make it part of their place of worship.

I have no photos from the cathedral from this visit but there are a few in the blog post from our visit here a few years ago. Click here to check out one of those posts.