Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral of Cordova, Spain

The Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral is one of the most remarkable buildings on Earth. It began in about 600 A.D. as a church, then evolved as both a church and a mosque beginning in 784 until it became the Great Mosque of Cordova.  After the Moors were defeated in Cordova in 1286, it became a Catholic cathedral.  What was once the minaret in the background of this photo became the bell tower of the cathedral.
The exterior of the cathedral has retained its Moorish architecture.  The Mosque-Cathedral is huge, several city blocks square.  Its design was influenced by the Great Mosque of Damascus, Syria.
The interior of most of the Cathedral is dominated by 856 columns the support the expansive roof area. It is easy to get lost in the expanse of the Moorish architecture and lose sight of the fact that you are in the midst of a Catholic cathedral, lined with chapels along its perimeter.
 In the middle of the forest of Moorish columns, the roof was raised and a Gothic Cathedral was built following the Reconquesta. This is one of the Cathedral altars.  It does not seem possible that the two photos above were taken near each other inside the same building.
The Cathedral has an impressive Treasury of Catholic religious artifacts.  Cordova is located between Grenada and Sevilla.  We highly recommend the profound experience of visiting the Mezquita.

2 comments:

Margaret said...

This is one of my favorite places! I love Cordoba during Semana Santa. The city is so quiet (everyone's in Sevilla).

glenda said...

This was truly an amazing Cathredral. I think one of the most beautiful I have visited.

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