When did the Great Mosque of Cordoba start?
Great Mosque of Cordoba from the Air, Córdoba, Spain, begun 786 and enlarged during the 9th and 10th centuries (photo: Ulamm, CC BY-SA 3.0)
What’s the difference between the mosques in Mecca and Cordoba?
From Cordoba, Mecca is to the east-southeast, but the Great Mosque of Cordoba is instead oriented more towards the south. This orientation, which doesn’t match that of modern mosques, is due to historical differences in opinion about the appropriate direction of the qibla in far western Islamic lands like al-Andalus and Morocco.
How to book a ticket to the mosque of Cordoba?
Includes: Ticket + Official Guide. Book an official private guide for you and/or a group of family, friends or partners, and to know in a more comfortable and more direct way the Mosque of Cordoba. For the educational centers available a special program of visits with a pedagogical marking.
Why are red voussoirs used in the Great Mosque of Cordoba?
Alternating red and white voussoirs are associated with Umayyad monuments such as the Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome of the Rock. Their use in the Great Mosque of Cordoba manages to create a stunningly original visual composition even as it emphasises ‘Abd al-Rahman’s connection to the established Umayyad tradition.
What was the largest church in the city of Cordoba?
During the first years of the muslin presence in the city of Cordoba, Christians and Muslims shared the largest church in the city, the San Vicente Basilica, until Abderrahman I bought the Christian part and started the construction of the mosque (in the year 784) taking advantage of most Visigoth materials of the basilica.
Are there orange trees in the courtyard of the mosque of Cordoba?
Orange trees still stand in the courtyard of the Mosque of Córdoba, a beautiful, if bittersweet reminder of the Umayyad exile. The building itself was expanded over two hundred years.
