Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba is a building located in Córdoba, Spain, that is considered one of the masterworks of medieval architecture. Originally built to serve as a mosque in the eighth century, the structure was partially converted into a Christian cathedral in the thirteenth century. A part of the Catholic Diocese of Córdoba, the cathedral's ecclesiastical name is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption and the church is dedicated to the assumption of Mary into heaven. Despite being under the oversight of the Catholic Church for almost eight hundred years, Muslims continue to regard the mosque as the most significant Islamic monument in Western Europe. It is often called the Mezquita, the Spanish word for "mosque."

The site's uniquely blended history has resulted in controversy. As the Mosque-Cathedral is a sanctified Catholic site, Muslims have been banned from praying there since 1236. In addition, the terminology used to describe the building became a source of contention in the twenty-first century when the Catholic Church sought to highlight its Christian heritage at the expense of its Muslim origins. However, in spite of such conflicts, the Mosque-Cathedral remains a popular tourist attraction that draws 1.5 million visitors every year.

Brief History

Córdoba is a city in the Andalusian region of southern Spain that serves as the provincial capital. It has been the site of a settled population since at least 206 BCE when Romans seized control of the area. The Romans were the first to designate the future site of the Mosque-Cathedral as a place of worship when they built a temple there dedicated to the god Janus. After the fall of the Romans, the region came under the control of the Byzantines and then the Germanic Visigoths, who took over Córdoba in 572 CE. The Visigoths replaced the Roman temple with a Catholic Church dedicated to Saint Vincent.

In 711, the Umayyad Caliphate of Syria began the Islamic conquest of Hispania (Spain). Among the first areas to fall under their rule was the southern city of Córdoba. The first Islamic leaders initially allowed Christians to continue to use half the building that would become the Mosque-Cathedral, with the remainder converted into a mosque. After the exiled Syrian Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I gained control of the region, he took complete control over the site by providing its remaining Christian tenants with permission to build churches elsewhere in the city. Between 784 and 786, al-Rahman completed construction on a new mosque that he hoped would demonstrate his influence. Intended to rival the greatest mosques of the era, the development of the Mosque of Córdoba was equal to that of Córdoba itself. The city reached its historical zenith under the Umayyad dynasty in the ninth and tenth centuries as the capital of the Islamic state of al-Andalus. Al-Rahman began a massive building project in the city. This effort led to the construction of more than one thousand mosques and public buildings throughout the city. This multiethnic state became a center of learning in the ancient world where Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived side-by-side in relative harmony. By the tenth century, the population of the city was estimated to have reached half a million people, making it the largest city in the world at the time.

The centerpiece of this state was the Mosque of Córdoba. At its height, the mosque was an important stop for Muslim pilgrims as it contained both an original copy of the Koran and an arm bone from the Prophet Mohammed. Over the course of its life as a mosque, the building underwent several large-scale changes, including the addition of a minaret in the ninth century, and an enlargement of the mihrab, which is an alcove used in Islamic architecture to indicate the direction of Mecca and the direction that the Muslim congregation should face when praying. The final structural changes by al-Hakam II al-Mustansur were completed in 987 with the expansion of the building's outer aisles and the addition of orange trees to the courtyard.

In 1236, Islamic Córdoba fell to King Ferdinand III of Castile. Initially, the great mosque of Córdoba remained mostly intact in its original form and was merely re-consecrated to the Virgin Mary. However, under King Alfonso X, the building increasingly became a symbol of the victory of the Castilian Spanish over the Moorish Muslims, and he had the center of the mosque converted to the Villaviciosa and Royal Chapels. Successive kings added further Christian adornments until the eighteenth century, when the building's transition into a structure with both Muslim and Christian features was completed. It serves as the cathedral for the Catholic Diocese of Córdoba.

Architectural Style

The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba contains aspects of Roman, Visigoth, Spanish, Baroque, Moorish, and Islamic designs, including some elements that had never before been used in Islamic architecture. The building is perhaps best known for its ornate Visigoth horseshoe double arches used to support the roof, and an intricately designed marbled mihrab that is adorned with rich mosaics and high-arched windows. Another important feature is the hypostyle hallway, which is a room supported by more than eight hundred recycled Roman columns fashioned from granite, jasper, marble, and onyx. The church built within the grounds of the mosque was designed in a Baroque style, while the minaret was converted into the cathedral's bell tower.

The Mosque-Cathedral has been listed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1984.

Topic Today

The shared religious heritage of the Mosque-Cathedral made it an important symbol of religious tolerance in contemporary Spain. In acknowledgement of this historical legacy, it was long referred to as a mosque-cathedral. However, in 1998, the building's Catholic administrators revised their official terminology in tourist packets to refer to it instead as a "Cathedral (former Mosque)." These brochures were altered again in 2010 to call it the "Córdoba Cathedral." The literature also took a disparaging tone to the structure's Islamic origins and described the initial design as lacking originality. These changes angered many people in the community, who formed a group called "The Mosque-Cathedral—A Heritage for All" to pressure the Catholic Church to return the building to its former name.

After growing political pressure, the Catholic Church finally conceded to protestors in 2016. Beginning in April, the official literature again began calling the building a "Mosque-Cathedral," while describing its architecture as an attractive combination of Islamic, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine influences. While these concessions have eased tensions between the Catholic Church and protestors, the Church's continuing ban on Muslims from praying at the Mosque-Cathedral has led to protests, including the arrest of two Austrian Muslims in 2010 who attempted to worship within the building's grounds. The church continued to face controversy and political pressure. The church claimed ownership of the mosque-cathedral in 2006. Many rejected this claim, and from 2015 to 2019 the mayor of Córdoba argued for a shared management approach. However, the succeeding mayor, José María Bellido Roche, closed down the commission investigating ownership rights and accepted the church's claim. Nevertheless, the church continued to be a battleground for historical accuracy and the shaping of the narrative of the history of the church.

Bibliography

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