Mosque Cathedral of Córdoba 🇪🇸

In 786 the Great Mosque was built over a 6th century Visigoth church that was previously a Roman temple.

The Mosque was continually expanded over the next two hundred years. Two of the Mosque’s most famous areas were used for prayer. The prayer hall holding a forest of 856 columns dates from original construction. The columns hold two-tiered arches made of red brick and white stone. These columns were recycled from Roman and Visigoth ruins.

What is Moorish architecture?

This style of building was inspired by Roman, Byzantine and eastern Islamic architecture and came to be known as Moorish architecture or Islamic architecture of the west. The style included horseshoe arches and intricately detailed geometric interior decoration.

The Great Mosque of Cordoba is an extraordinary example of this Western Islamic architecture.

Horseshoe arches—Unsplash @truji

In 929 a new caliphate was established and elevated Córdoba to a great cultural center of Europe.

The second prayer area was added as an expansion. In the 10th century a master craftsman was sent from Constantinople. He was an expert in mosaics and built the mosaic-decorated prayer niche (mihrab). It was uncovered and restored to its former glory in the 19th century.

In 1236 Christian forces captured Córdoba. The Mosque was converted to a Cathedral. And in the 16th century, a gothic choir was added. The city resisted the construction but it was approved by Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor). This addition and conversion to a Cathedral likely spared the Mosque from destruction.

Today, still a Church, it holds mass weekly. Only slightly smaller than St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, it's the third largest Mosque in the world. And the epitome of Moorish architecture.