Exploring the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba

Andalusia is a place with so much history and interesting things to discover. It's a place where different cultures and religions have, and still do, influence the landscape. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the very famous Mosque Cathedral of Cordoba, a place where Islam and Christianity meet and where we can experience the course of history quite literally as we walk its incredibly beautiful halls. So what is the actual history of this fascinating building? The southern parts of Spain and Portugal, often called Andalusia or Al-Andalus in Arabic, was ruled by Muslim dynasties for more than half a millennium. The Arab-led armies first entered the Iberian Peninsula in the year 711, very easy to remember, and it was the Umayyad Empire that would first establish its rule here, especially after Abdul Rahman I was forced to flee from Damascus with the Abbasid revolt in the east. Abdul Rahman established Al-Andalus as a center for the Umayyads, with the city of Cordoba at its very center, a position that it would hold for many centuries thereafter. It was also Abdul Rahman I that began the construction of the Great Mosque in the city around the year 756. This was meant to be at the center of religious life for Muslims in the region where communal Friday prayers would be held every week. The Umayyad Empire, and eventually Caliphate, grew into a very significant political and cultural force over the coming centuries, and Cordoba was at the very center of all of this. Here, art, literature, sciences, music, and other fields would flourish, and the period is famous as being one of intellectual openness and a relative tolerance shown towards other religious groups like Christians and Jews, all of whom were taking part in the sharing of ideas. Subsequent kings and caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty would add and expand the Great Mosque as the population of the city grew. Abdul Rahman II added a section, and all the way in the 10th century, caliphs like Abdul Rahman III, Al-Hakam II, and the vizier Al-Mansur expanded the mosque into a huge structure with the shape that we recognize today. With a large courtyard and a fountain for making ablutions, the famous columned halls on the inside, and of course a towering minaret. It really was a quite impressive building and played an important role in the lives of Muslims living in this cosmopolitan city, one of the most prosperous in the world at the time. It continued to play its central role during the Umayyad period until the collapse of the empire in the mid-11th century, when it fell apart into smaller states known as ta'ifas. Even later, with the establishment of new unifying empires like the Almoravids and Almohads, Cordoba and its mosque never really retained its former glory. The Almohads chose as their capital the city of Seville, making that city the new center for politics and culture. But still, Cordoba remained an important city, and its Great Mosque was still in use over the centuries. It was here that all the great figures would have come to pray, from the famous caliphs and leaders, some of which we have mentioned, to great scholars, philosophers, and mystics like Ibn Masarra, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Rushd or Averroes, and of course Ibn Arabi. It really is amazing to walk the halls and know that so many great figures once stood in this very spot, kneeling and prostrating in devotion. But the building's story doesn't end here. In 1236, the Christians conquered Cordoba as part of the so-called Reconquista. The city was now ruled by another religion, and its most important religious building was thus to undergo a significant change. But the Great Mosque wasn't demolished or destroyed to build a new church, as would often be the case elsewhere. Instead, the Christians used the very same building and remade it into a cathedral. Over the years, new features were added. A beautiful chapel right in the middle of the building in the 14th century, a gothic nave in the 15th, and a very impressive renaissance section that fills the space with lights and scale. Even the old minaret was transformed into a bell tower. At the same time, many of the features of the old mosque still remained, making this a truly unique building. Today, on top of still being used by Christian devotees, it has become basically a kind of museum. One of the most popular tourist attractions in the region, and for good reason. It's an absolutely fascinating and beautiful artifact of history, but also to the evolving religious and spiritual sentiments of the city's inhabitants throughout that history. For a long time, it served as the Great Mosque of one of the Muslim world's most important cities, the seat of power for the Umayyad Caliphate. Later, it became a cathedral used by Christians in their religious services. And all of this is visible today, since the building and its different features from across history are remarkably well preserved. As you walk in, you are struck with the incredible and iconic columns and their horseshoe arches, built all the way back in the 8th century, and of course later expanded. You can see the mihrab, the prayer niche, on the far end of the al-Hakam extension, toward which the whole congregation would face as they prostrated in the direction of Mecca. You can look at the very same beautiful inlays and details that thousands of Muslims, including some of the greatest historical figures, would have seen as they prayed. But at the same time, you can also see the very strong Christian heritage too. The beautiful marble Renaissance ceiling, the images of Jesus, an important figure in both religions after all, and various small chapels along the walls containing images of saints as well as various scenes and relics. Even as you step out into the courtyard among the orange trees and look at the tower, you can experience the course of history. What used to be the minaret is now a bell tower, and we can see aspects of both at the same time, with the bottom half still retaining its original Islamic form with an added tower on top, in a very similar way to the so-called Giralda in Seville, which has pretty much an identical history, with most of the structure being from the old minaret but with modifications on top. The Mosque Cathedral of Cordoba, or Mesquita as it is known locally, is truly one of the marvels of the world when it comes to historical buildings and places. It is a product of the great civilization of Al-Andalus and the different changes that have taken place here, both politically, culturally, and religiously. It is a mosque, it is a cathedral, and it is a museum, a reminder of a complicated and dynamic past, of intellectual flowering, of cohabitation, and of wars, oppression, and bloody conflict. But perhaps above all, it is a reminder of the people who once walked here, who came to this place to fulfill their spiritual needs and to be closer to the divine, whether they were Muslims or Christians. I'll see you next time.