Search results
Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba. / 37.879194°N 4.77972°W / 37.879194; -4.77972. The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba [1] [2] ( Spanish: Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba ), officially known by its ecclesiastical name of Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (Spanish: Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción ), [3] is the cathedral of ...
Abd al-Rahman I. 756-788. Member of the Umayyad dynasty and grandson of Caliph Hisham of Damascus, he managed to escape from the Abbasids and reach the Iberian Peninsula. His life in Cordoba began with the conquest of the city after triumphing in the battle of al-Musara, on 14 May of the year 756. In that same year, after declaring Cordoba an ...
People also ask
What is the mosque of Cordoba known for?
Who built the Great Mosque in Córdoba?
Was Cordoba a Roman or Visigoth mosque?
What is the mihrab in the Great Mosque of Córdoba?
Aug 16, 2022 · Córdoba's stunning mosque-cathedral showcases Spain's Muslim heritage. Christian forces captured the Umayyad capital in 1236, but left its glorious house of worship largely untouched when ...
- Overview
- Temple/church/mosque/church
- A new capital
- The hypostyle hall
- The mihrab
- The horseshoe arch
- The dome
By Dr. Shadieh Mirmobiny
Known locally as Mezquita-Catedral, the Great Mosque of Córdoba is one of the oldest structures still standing from the time Muslims ruled Al-Andalus (Muslim Iberia including most of Spain, Portugal, and a small section of Southern France) in the late 8th century. Córdoba is a two hour train ride south of Madrid, and draws visitors from all over the world.
The buildings on this site are as complex as the extraordinarily rich history they illustrate. Historians believe that there had first been a temple to the Roman god, Janus, on this site. The temple was converted into a church by invading Visigoths who seized Córdoba in 572. Next, the church was converted into a mosque and then completely rebuilt b...
Following the overthrow of his family (the Umayyads) in Damascus by the incoming Abbasids, Prince Abd al-Rahman I escaped to southern Spain. Once there, he established control over almost all of the Iberian Peninsula and attempted to recreate the grandeur of Damascus in his new capital, Córdoba. He sponsored elaborate building programs, promoted ag...
The building itself was expanded over two hundred years. It is comprised of a large hypostyle prayer hall (hypostyle means, filled with columns), a courtyard with a fountain in the middle, an orange grove, a covered walkway circling the courtyard, and a minaret (a tower used to call the faithful to prayer) that is now encased in a squared, tapered ...
The focal point in the prayer hall is the famous horseshoe arched mihrab or prayer niche. A mihrab is used in a mosque to identify the wall that faces Mecca—the birth place of Islam in what is now Saudi Arabia. This is practical as Muslims face toward Mecca during their daily prayers. The mihrab in the Great Mosque of Córdoba is framed by an exquis...
The horseshoe-style arch was common in the architecture of the Visigoths, the people that ruled this area after the Roman empire collapsed and before the Umayyads arrived. The horseshoe arch eventually spread across North Africa from Morocco to Egypt and is an easily identified characteristic of Western Islamic architecture (though there are some e...
Above the mihrab, is an equally dazzling dome. It is built of crisscrossing ribs that create pointed arches all lavishly covered with gold mosaic in a radial pattern. This astonishing building technique anticipates later Gothic rib vaulting, though on a more modest scale.
The Great Mosque of Córdoba is a prime example of the Muslim world's ability to brilliantly develop architectural styles based on pre-existing regional traditions. Here is an extraordinary combination of the familiar and the innovative, a formal stylistic vocabulary that can be recognized as “Islamic” even today.
Khan Academy video wrapper
See video transcript
Additional resources:
Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain, ed. Jerrilynn D. Dodds (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art) 1992
While the Historic Centre has hundreds of buildings of cultural and historical significance, the most outstanding monument of the city is the Great Mosque, now called Mosque-Cathedral. The Mosque, central piece of the Islamic city, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1984 (the property was extended in 1994 to include the Historic Centre).
The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, also known as the Great Mosque of Cordoba or Mezquita de Cordoba, is an Islamic mosque that was converted into a Christian cathedral in the 13th century. It was originally built in 785 CE by Abd ar-Rahman and is regarded as an important monument of Islamic architecture. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984 ...
In the early 16th century, the Bishop of the Cathedral (Bishop Manrique ) got the permission from Carlos V (Charles V, King of Spain) to construct inside the Great Mosque. Both, the Bishop and the King, coincided in the need to respect the expansion made under the rule of Alhakem II . So, in 1523, the construction of the Cathedral of Cordoba ...
