Córdoba -- The Grand Mosque
The next morning we were up in time to do a bit of reading in preparation for a tour that we would be taking to the cathedral/mosque and the Jewish quarter. We had a bit of an idea as to what we might expect to see in the Jewish quarter but no idea in terms of what to expect on our visit to the cathedral/mosque.
To appreciate what we saw, a bit of historical background is in order. If you want to skip this background and go straight to the visit, you can click here.
It is commonly believed that the site of the Mosque-Cathedral was originally a Christian church which was divided and shared by Muslims and Christians after the Islamic conquest of the Visigoth kingdom. This sharing arrangement lasted until 784 CE when the Christian half was purchased by the Emir Abd al-Rahman I, who then proceeded to demolish the original structure and build the grand mosque of Córdoba on its ground. The authenticiay of this narrative is questionable as archaeological evidence is scant, and the narrative is not corroborated by contemporary accounts of the events . However, it is almost certain that the building which housed the original mosque was destroyed to build the first version of the Great Mosque. An archaeological exhibit in the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba displays fragments of a Visigothic building below the existing floor, emphasizing an originally Christian nature of the complex.
The mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd al-Rahman II ordered a new minaret, while in 961 Al-Hakam II enlarged the building. The last of such changes was carried out in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and courtyard.