The Great Mosque of Cordoba brought the influence of Islamic and Byzantine architecture to Spain, and led to the creation of the mudejar-style of architecture that is now a trademark of the Spanish Empire. As the cultural capital under the Muslim Umayyad dynasty, Cordoba grew as a city rich in art and architecture, eventually becoming a cultural mecca for Islam. As Glaire Anderson, historian of Islamic art and architecture, states, “the Great Mosque was the centerpiece of Cordoba, one of the most important urban centers of the medieval Mediterranean” (tresholds 49). Despite multiple renovations and changes in political power, the mosque remained true to its Islamic architectural roots. The Great Mosque has remained a monument of great importance
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(Heritage 79) The Visigoths were ejected from Cordoba by the Umayyad caliphate during the Muslim conquest of Spain in the 8th century. In 756, Abd al Rahman I abandoned Syria after the attack of the Abbasid caliphate, and fled through North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, where he made Cordoba the capital of his renewed Umayyad empire. (Heritage 84) Rahman restored the city and built many mosques, taking great influence from the architecture of his Syrian homeland. (Heritage 84) In 784, the Visigothic church was demolished to start construction on the Great Mosque, which took only one year to build. The prayer hall of the mosque was designed with “eleven aisles of twelve bays each, perpendicular to the qibla wall” …show more content…
During the reign of Abd al Rahman II, the “expansion added two naves to the original nine and a northern porch that was united with the western and eastern ones surrounding the patio” (Heritage 85). In 951, Abd al Rahman III extended the mosque to the south and built a new minaret. However, it was during the expansion under Al-Hakam II’s rule the greatest changes were implemented to the mosque. As author Brenda Deen Schildgen describes in Heritage or Hersey, “Al-Hakam’s notable additions, the mihrab and the maqsura, introduced new elements to the building in an exuberant artistic celebration of the triumph of the reborn Umayyad caliphate” (85). With these additions, Al-Hakam recruited Byzantine mosaic workers to decorate the mihrab, and other features of the mosque, with complex mosaic tiling. The completed work features a hybrid of Byzantine and Hispano-Muslim artistic styles. The book “A Lost Art Rediscovered: The Architectural Ceramics of Byzantium” describes the use of both mosaic styles in the Great Mosque, and explains that “the tiles were executed in the ‘in-glaze’ painting technique, the customary Hispano-Muslim method for decorating polychrome glazed pottery vessels in this period” (240). This addition was significant because it one of the only surviving monuments that documents the combination of Byzantine and Hispano-Muslims styles. The final addition was
(Heritage 79) The Visigoths were ejected from Cordoba by the Umayyad caliphate during the Muslim conquest of Spain in the 8th century. In 756, Abd al Rahman I abandoned Syria after the attack of the Abbasid caliphate, and fled through North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, where he made Cordoba the capital of his renewed Umayyad empire. (Heritage 84) Rahman restored the city and built many mosques, taking great influence from the architecture of his Syrian homeland. (Heritage 84) In 784, the Visigothic church was demolished to start construction on the Great Mosque, which took only one year to build. The prayer hall of the mosque was designed with “eleven aisles of twelve bays each, perpendicular to the qibla wall” …show more content…
During the reign of Abd al Rahman II, the “expansion added two naves to the original nine and a northern porch that was united with the western and eastern ones surrounding the patio” (Heritage 85). In 951, Abd al Rahman III extended the mosque to the south and built a new minaret. However, it was during the expansion under Al-Hakam II’s rule the greatest changes were implemented to the mosque. As author Brenda Deen Schildgen describes in Heritage or Hersey, “Al-Hakam’s notable additions, the mihrab and the maqsura, introduced new elements to the building in an exuberant artistic celebration of the triumph of the reborn Umayyad caliphate” (85). With these additions, Al-Hakam recruited Byzantine mosaic workers to decorate the mihrab, and other features of the mosque, with complex mosaic tiling. The completed work features a hybrid of Byzantine and Hispano-Muslim artistic styles. The book “A Lost Art Rediscovered: The Architectural Ceramics of Byzantium” describes the use of both mosaic styles in the Great Mosque, and explains that “the tiles were executed in the ‘in-glaze’ painting technique, the customary Hispano-Muslim method for decorating polychrome glazed pottery vessels in this period” (240). This addition was significant because it one of the only surviving monuments that documents the combination of Byzantine and Hispano-Muslims styles. The final addition was