Mezquita

Information about Mezquita

This article is about Arabic architecture. For the Valencian pilotari, see JosÃ© Jorge Mezquita GarcÃa.

Interior of the Mezquita

The Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque", from the Arabic مسجد "Masjid") is a Roman Catholic cathedral in CÃ³rdoba, Spain. It was originally built to be a mosque and was at one time the second-largest mosque in the world.

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 Muslim Emir Abd ar-Rahman I, who used it as an adjunct to his palace and named it to honor his wife. The land was bought by the Emir from the previous owners. The site was that of the Visigothic cathedral of St. Vincent. When the forces of Tariq ibn-Ziyad first occupied CÃ³rdoba in 711, the Christian cathedral was suppressed. Several explanations have been proposed to explain the mosque's unorthodox orientation. Some have suggested the mihrab faces south because the foundations of the mosque are borrowed from the old Roman and Visigoth constructions. Others contend that Abd ar-Rahman oriented the mihrab southward as if he were still in the Ummayyad capital of Damascus and not in exile.

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. 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. It was connected to the Caliph's palace by a raised walk-way, allowing the ruler of Cordoba to visit the mosque without risking assassination. Today the Bishop's palace stands on the site of the Caliph's.

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. The Mezquita reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and orange tree courtyard.

Patio de los Naranjos, inside the Mezquita

The 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. 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. Its reversion 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.

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

Gallery

Visiting Information

Entrance: open daily to visitors. Entrance fee 28.12.2006 - 8â‚¬

External links

Mezquita (Great Mosque) of Cordoba
Mezquita in Cordoba Independent article and photographs of this great Cathedral built within the older Moorish Mosque
Cordoba Mezquita - Mosque
Mezquita de Cordoba
The Great Mosque of Cordoba
Mezquita (Great Mosque) of Cordoba at Google Maps
Photos of the Mezquita

Coordinates:

Pilota Valenciana or Valencian pilota (pilota means ball in Valencian) is a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community. Its origins are not known, but seems to be related to the French Jeu de paume.
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JosÃ© Jorge Mezquita GarcÃa (Vila-real, 1967), simply known as Mezquita, is a Valencian pilota professional player, one of the best reboters (bouncing scholars) of the Escala i corda variant in the ValNet company. He has been member of the Valencian Pilota Squad.
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mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid Arabic: مسجد — pronounced: /ˈmÃ¦sʤɪd/ (pl.
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Christianity

Foundations
Jesus Christ
Church Theology
New Covenant Supersessionism
Dispensationalism
Apostles Kingdom Gospel
History of Christianity Timeline
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Old Testament New Testament
Books Canon Apocrypha
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cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a religious building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and some Lutheran churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and
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State Party Spain
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iii, iv
Reference 313
Region Europe and North America

Inscription History
Inscription 1984 (8th Session)
Extensions
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7th century - 8th century - 9th century
750s 760s 770s - 780s - 790s 800s 810s
781 782 783 - 784 - 785 786 787
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neutrality is disputed.
* Its tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia.

Please help [ improve the article] or discuss these issues on the talk page.
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The Visigoths (Western Goths) were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe (the Ostrogoths being the other). Together these tribes were among the loosely-termed Germanic peoples who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period.
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Tariq ibn Ziyad or Taric bin Zeyad (Arabic: طارق بن زياد, d. 720), known in Spanish history and legend as Taric el Tuerto
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A mihrab (Arabic: ألمحراب pl. محاريب) is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of Kaaba that Muslims should face when praying.
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Damascus
دمـش?
Damascus Skyline

Seal
Nickname: (Al Fayhaa) The Fragrant City
Damascus' location within Syria
Syria
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For other persons of the same name, see Abd-ar-Rahman.

Abd-ar-Rahman III (Arabic: عبد الرحمن الثالث) was the Emir and Caliph of Cordoba (912-961), and a prince of
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Minarets (Arabic manara (lighthouse) منارة, but more usually مئذنة) are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques.
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Al-Hakam II (Arabic: الحكم الثاني) was Caliph of Cordoba, in the Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia), and son of Abd-ar-rahman III (al-Nasir). He ruled from 961 to 976.
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Abu Aamir Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abi Aamir, Al-Hajib Al-Mansur أبو عامر محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي
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JasPer is a project to create a reference implementation of the codec specified in the JPEG-2000 Part-1 standard, (ie. ISO/IEC 15444-1). The project was started by Image Power, Inc. and the University of British Columbia.
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Onyx is a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color (save some shades, such as Purple or Blue.) Commonly, specimens of onyx available contain bands of colors of white, tan, and brown.
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Marble is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite (a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, CaCO₃). It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications.
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Granite (IPA: /ˈɡrÃ¦nɪt/) is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granites are usually medium to coarsely crystalline, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the
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10th century - 11st century
950s 960s 970s - 980s - 990s 1000s 1010s
984 985 986 - 987 - 988 989 990
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1236 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar 1236
MCCXXXVI
Ab urbe condita 1989
Armenian calendar 685
ԹՎ ՈՁԵ
Bah' calendar -608 – -607
Buddhist calendar 1780
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Ferdinand III (30 July or 5 August 1199 – 30 May 1252), called the Saint, was the King of Castile from 1217 and King of LeÃ³n from 1230. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale.
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Christendom, or Christenhood, in the widest sense, refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon: those countries where most people are Christians are part of Christendom.
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Alfonso X (November 23, 1221, Toledo, Spain – April 4, 1284, Seville, Spain) was a Spanish monarch who ruled as the King of Galicia, Castile and LeÃ³n from 1252 until his death. He was elected Rex Romanorum'' in 1254.
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Henry of Trastamara (January 13,1334 Sevilla - May 29,1379 Santo Domingo de la Calzada) (Enrique de TrastÃ¡mara), was the illegitimate son of Alfonso XI of Castile and Eleanor of Guzman, and half brother to Pedro of Castile the Cruel (or the Lawful, depending on who wrote the
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14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400.

Events

The transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age
Beginning of the Ottoman Empire, early expansion into the Balkans

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nave is the central approach to the high altar. "Nave" ( Medieval Latin navis, "ship,") was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting. The nave of a church, whether Romanesque, Gothic or Classical, extends from the entry — which may have a separate
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Charles V (Also Charles I of Spain)
Holy Roman Emperor; King of Castile, Aragon, Naples and Sicily, others

Reign King of Aragon and Castile
Holy Roman Emperor
King of Naples
Sovereign of the Netherlands
Count of Flanders
Duke of Brabant
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Assumption Cathedral or Dormition Cathedral (Russian: Uspenski Cathedral) may refer to a number of Cathedral churches consecrated to the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Orthodox tradition and Assumption of Mary in the Roman Catholic tradition: