On the first day, I took you with me to have a look at the Roman Bridge of Córdoba, which we soon learned is actually, most likely, not Roman in its current form, but either Islamic or Christian. The bridge served as inspiration for the Long Bridge of Volantis.
This time, I’ll take you with me to the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba, or the Mosque – Cathedral of Córdoba, and then we will take a look at the walls of Córdoba, because there are some historical-nerd things I want to go over.
First, the Mosque. This was quite something, to say the least. Have in mind that Córdoba has had quite a ride over the last 2500 years, going from a Phoenician and Carthaginian town to a Roman city. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was ruled by the Visigoths, before being conquered and transformed into the capital of Islamic al-Andalus. It changed hands one final time when it was captured by Ferdinand III in 1236. It should go without saying that the religious story of this location mirrors that of its political history.
The imposing Mezquita-Catedral originated as a small basilica dedicated to San Vicente during the Visigothic era. After the Islamic capture of the city, sources indicate that the temple was used by Muslims until the foundation of the Emirate of Córdoba, when a proper mosque, known as the Mezquita, was built. After that, a lot of new additions were made, including a mihrab and a macsura.
After the city exchanged hands one final time, Fernando III of Castilla turned it into a Diocese, and later, during the Renaissance, it was once again improved upon, and a new chapel was added.
The Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba is a perfect example of how religion, during the Medieval times, wasn’t as cutthroat or as much of a divisive issue as movies and bad historians make it out to be, and people in fact co-existed (mostly) peacefully, and with some sense of respect for one another. No buildings were destroyed upon a new conqueror entering the city, only adapted and built upon. Add to that the existence of a sizeable Jewish quarter in the city.
This leads to some of the most fantastic intersections of religious architecture you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the world, with Muslim colorful arches giving way to elaborate rooftops of a Christian chapel.
Fun fact for you: Did you know stone masons signed the stones they worked on so that they could be accounted for and paid? At least 300 of them worked on building the Mosque.
Another thing I want to talk to you about is the beautiful walls of Córdoba that, for the most part, are still in decent condition, albeit with a large part missing. I’m still looking over what information is available on the walls, but I’m not sure if what you see in a photo is the inside or the outside of the wall. I think that, from a Roman perspective, this part would be the inside of the wall. But with the expansion of the city, it became the outside of the wall, in comparison to where the medieval city center grew around the Mezquita. Fun stuff that’s not immediately apparent.
Also, did you know that the Muslim forces, when attacking the city they didn’t siege it, but instead scaled the walls at night, killed the sentinels, and opened the gates. That, to me, is really damn impressive.
Tomorrow I’ll bring you my thoughts on Granada, the last bastion of the Muslim Kingdom to fall during the Iberian Reconquista.
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