Córdoba’s Great Mosque, dating back 12 centuries, embodied the power of Islam on the Iberian Peninsula. As you tread beneath its rows of hallowed arches, you’ll be transported back to the affluent age of Moorish rule.
t Walking among the red-and-white striped Caliphal arches
Experience Andalucía
t The Mezquita, seen from across the Río Guadalquivir
Abd al Rahman I, the founder of the caliphate of Córdoba, built the original mosque on the site of a Visigothic church between AD 785 and 787. The building evolved over the centuries, blending many architectural forms. In the 10th century al Hakam II made some of the most lavish additions, including the elaborate mihrab (prayer niche) and the maqsura (caliph’s enclosure). Later, during the 16th century a cathedral was built in the heart of the reconsecrated mosque, under the orders of Carlos I, to complete the city’s “Christianization”.
EXPERIENCE Andalucía
Moorish Arches
The Visigoths were the first to use horseshoe arches in the construction of churches. The Moors modified these arches and used them as the basis of great architectural endeavours, as seen in the Mezquita. Subsequent arches show more sophisticated ornamentation and the slow demise of the basic horseshoe shape.