Mosque of Cordoba -- Located

¶ … Mosque of Cordoba -- located in the Andalucia region of southern Spain -- is one of the wonders of the medieval world because of its design and the symbolism it presents as an Islamic icon on Europe. It is also respected and revered the world over today because it is steeped in the history of both Islam and Christianity. It is also called the "Mezquita" (www.andalucia.com) and it dates back to the 10th Century with Cordoba was "the largest, most prosperous cities of Europe," larger and more impressive in culture, the arts, and science, than Baghdad and Byzantium, according to www.andalucia.com.

The time line provided by Google shows that in about 711 AD the Muslim world conquered the portion of Spain called Andalucia. Shortly thereafter the Muslims began to build the Great Mosque In 756 AD and 784 AD the Great Mosque was enlarged and in the year 1000 "interlocking arches" were added to the exterior portals of the mosque. In 1236 Cordova was conquered by Ferdinand III of Castile, who immediately claimed the Great Mosque of Cordoba for Christianity. He performed a "purification ceremony" to complete the consecration from its original Islamic theme to Christianity.

It was re-named the "Caterdral de Santa Maria" by Ferdinand III, and historians and scholars today recognize that only a few Muslim buildings from history were ever converted into Christian cathedrals -- especially without changing the original design to a more traditional Christian design.

For three hundred years after Ferdinand III (King of Castile) conquered Cordoba, the Christians in Cordoba used the mosque "with relatively minor changes," the ArchNet Digital Library explains. Indeed, in the early 16th Century the Bishop and Canons of the cathedral proposed that a new Christian cathedral be built, and the mosque be torn down to make way for the cathedral. But townspeople of Cordoba opposed the idea of demolishing the mosque, and as a compromise, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. endorsed the radical idea of inserting an entire "Gothic chapel" into the very heart of the Great Mosque.

According to the ArchNet Digital Library the Great Mosque of Cordoba is also called "La Mezquita," "Mezquita-Catedral," "Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba." It has a "hypostyle plan" which consists of a "rectangular prayer hall and an enclosed courtyard." These architectural designs were traditional based on styles established in the Umayyad and Abbasid mosques of Syria and Iraq, the ArchNet Digital Library explains. The system of columns that support double arcades of piers and arches "with alternating red and white voussoirs" is a very original and innovative style of architecture. Structurally, the fascinating visual effect with the actual space created gives greater height within the hall. The ArchNet Digital Library claims that the Great Mosque of Cordoba is similar to the Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome of the Rock in that the red and white (alternating) voussoirs match up well.

The most "lavish interior ornament" in the Great Mosque of Cordoba is located in the maqsura, which is the prayer space reserved for the ruler.