An Authentic Temple: La Mezquita de Cordoba

As soon as you approach Cordoba your eyes will be searching for one of the most tolerant religious places in the world; Cordoba’s Mosque.

It is important to mention the history of this place before describing the wonderful architecture and magnificent details. The Mosque is a mosaic itself. First, The Roman Empire built a pagan temple on the site. Then The Visigoths after the fall of the Romans, replaced the temple with the Chrislargest mosque in all of Islam after that of Caaba, in Arabia. The Mesquite started to built during the 10th century, while the emir, Abd ar-Rahman 111 was consider a great ruler of tian church of Saint Vincent In the early 8th century, when the Arabs conquered the peninsula, they tore down the church and began building their great mosque, by doing this, Cordoba become the centre of Muslim power in Spain and the the Islamic history, by this time Cordoba was the largest, most prosperous cities of Europe.

The Mosque of Cordoba will welcome you with the Patio de los Naranjos (Courtyard of the Orange Trees) which is also the entrance point of La Giralda in Seville. The courtyard has also fountains that are used in the Islamic religion to get purified before going inside the temple.
Once you are inside of the Mosque, you will start to notice the many little chapels that are all around the place. This has also an historical explanation; the original mosque was surrounded by open arches. This is very common in the Islamic religion because it represent the mystical journey toward Allah. The Christians on the other side thought that they could be used as a backdrop for chapels dedicated to the various saints.

Regarding the arches and pillars, you will see an alternative chain of brick and stone, creating a colorful pattern that is very unique of this construction. If you have time, count the granite jasper and marble pillars, there is a total of 850 of them. Many of Andalusia constructions used recycle material from other places, in the case of ‘The Mosque the columns were taken from the Church of Saint Vincent which had previously occupied the site; others came from Roman and Visigothic homes in the city, and when these ran out, the Arabs made their own. But the columns were for the most part only seven or eight feet high, which meant that the huge ceiling would be aesthetically too low. So the Moors brilliantly invented a double-tiered column-and-arch.”

Another important detail is the mihrab, a key element in all mosques that indicates the direction of Mecca. The wall which is the closest to the river, is surrounded with arched windows, and adorned with mosaics.

Cordoba is the only place that has a Catholic cathedral that is call mosque instead of church. Open your eyes as much as you can and let the construction speak to you, please also remember to do a warm up exercise for your neck; you will be looking up all the time.