The Great Mosque of Cordoba
Zhuan Liang
Aerial view of the Great Mosque |
In the year 710 AD, Abd ar-Rahman I conquered
southern Spain from the Catholic Visigoths. During the rule of the Visigoths,
in the place of the Great Mosque of Cordoba stood a Christian church dedicated
to St. Vincent. After the Muslims took over, both Muslim and Catholic citizens
shared the Church of St. Vincent with areas where worship of the Muslims was
separated from the worship of the Christians. Then in the year 766 AD, Abd ar-
Rahman I bought the other half of the church and he commissioned to replace the
existing church with a new mosque, which was the Great Mosque of Cordoba.(1)
Plan of The Great Mosque |
The
Great Mosque of Cordoba was inspired from the Great Mosque of Damascus because
Abd ar- Rahman wanted to revive the original Great Mosque of Damascus, his home
town, in his new capitol. Although the mosque took after the Great Mosque of
Damascus, it also took many local trends of the time. For example, the
horseshoe arches were Visigoths style, interlacing horseshoe arches were
Christian style. On the exterior structure, it is seen that the arches it used
served the purpose to help support the mosque and as a decorative element.
There are poly-lobed arches, horseshoe arches, and interlacing horseshoe
arches, all uniquely covered with decoration and art. Other than decorative
arches, the door and entrances were also extremely elaborative, styled with
mosaics. The Great Mosque of Cordoba initially had a minaret, but it was later
converted to a bell tower when the Catholics took it back. (2)
Elaborate decorations
Just like the exterior, the Great Mosque of Cordoba
has a rich and distinct interior. The interior has a hypostyle hall, containing
856 columns that support series of two- tiered arches in which supports the
roof. Bi- level arches were seen in many structures before the mosque, however
the mosque uses them differently in a way that it did not separate the arches
in distinct levels, it just extended the arch column up and creating a
freestanding arch. These arches were decorated with a red brick pattern which
was a trend taken from the Byzantines.(2) The interior dome was built with
crisscrossing ribs that creates point arches that were decorated with gold
mosaic and radial patterning.(1) The mosque also has an orange tree courtyard
with fountains that were used for ablutions.(3)
Interior Columns
The Great Mosque of Cordoba was one of a kind in
that it has a Cathedral built on top of its roof. In sixteenth century, after
the Christians took back Cordoba, the mosque was slowly changed with the
objections of the citizens. But King Charles V insisted, so soon a cathedral
was constructed and made it part of the mosque. However, upon visiting the
mosques himself, King Charles said, “You have built here what you or anyone
might have built anywhere else, but you have destroyed what was unique in the
world.” (3)
The added on cathedral
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