Mezquita: Encyclopedia II - Mezquita - History

Mezquita - History

The construction of the Mezquita (originally the Aljama Mosque) lasted for over two centuries, starting in 784 A.D. under the supervision of the first emir of Cordoba, Abd ar-Rahman I, who used it as an adjunct to his palace and named it to honor his wife. The site was that of the Visigothic cathedral of St. Vincent. When the forces of Tariq ibn-Ziyad had first occupied Córdoba in 711, it had been equitable that they and the Christians share the cathedral space, according to the historian ar-Râzî, who documented the mosque's history. But with the establishment of the Umayyads in exile as emirs of Córdoba, the compromise space was no longer sufficient. Negotiations between the Emir and the bishop of Córdoba, eased by the promise of a large cash payment as well as permission to rebuild one of the extramural churches that had been leveled at the time of the conquest, resulted in the Christians' relinquishing their half of St. Vincent, which was razed and the new mosque, in its first phase, built upon the foundations (Wolf).

The Mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd ar-Rahman III ordered a new minaret, while Al-Hakam II, in 961, enlarged the plan of the building and enriched the mihrab. For unknown reasons, the Mihrab does not point towards Mecca (as it does in every other mosque). The last of the reforms was carried out by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir in 987.

It was the most magnificent of the more than 1,000 mosques in the city, and was at one time the second largest mosque in the Muslim world.

The city in which it was built was subject to frequent invasion, and each conquering wave added their own mark to the architecture. The building is most notable for its giant arches, with over 1,000 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings. The "poly-lobed" arches, pictured above, were a new introduction to architecture, and helped support the tremendous weight of the higher ceilings. Besides these horseshoe-topped arches, the Mezquita also features richly gilded prayer niches. A centrally located honey-combed dome has beautiful blue tiles decorated with stars. The mihrab is a masterpiece of architectural art, with geometric and flowing designs of plants. It reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and orange tree courtyard.

The very year (1236) that Cordoba was recaptured from the Moors, by King Ferdinand III of Castile and rejoined Christendom, the mosque was reconsecrated a Christian church. Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the structure of the mosque, but later repented of this addition. The kings who followed added further Christian features: Enrique II rebuilt the chapel in the 14th century.

The most significant alteration was the construction of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the middle of the structure. It was constructed by permission of Carlos V, king of united Spain; once he saw what had been built, he supposedly exclaimed, "You have built what you or others might have built anywhere, but you have destroyed something unique in the world." However, the addition of the cathedral nave is believed to have reinforced the edifice's structural stability, and its conversion to a Christian church (officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin) may have helped to preserve it when the Spanish Inquisition was most active. However, it is well known that the locals, old Christians and converts alike, vehemently protected the monument after the city was regained by the Christian kings.

Artisans and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century.

In 1931, Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal was the first Muslim to pray in the Mezquita after its closure to Islam.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki