A Cathedral or a Mosque?
I am not Muslim. I am not Christian. I belong to no religion, yet standing in front of Mezquita, the Cordoba Cathedral in Spain, I was enraptured by its beauty and its grandeur. One of the most outstanding architectural achievements of Islamic art and skill in the world, it has a turbulent history. One that captures the past within the past.
Dating back to the time of the Moors in Spain, it was the site of an ancient Visigothic Church, and was bought by the Caliph of Cordoba from the Christian community for purposes of building a mosque. This magnificent structure was built over a period of two centuries, from about 785 to 1002, and became the place of worship for the then most prosperous city in the western world - Cordoba. Populated with over 100,000 people and comprising 500 or so mosques.
Walking through the doors and into the building, I was struck by the Christian elements within the Islamic elements of its interior. Am I in a mosque, or in a church ? Through its arched, geometrically perfect doorways, always seemingly unending no matter where you stood and where you looked, it had the complex feel of a dual personality.
Captured by Ferdinand III of Castille in 1236, it returned to Christianity.
In 1236 , Cordoba was captured from the Moors by King Ferdinand III of Castile and rejoined Christendom. The Christians initially left the architecture Mezquita largely undisturbed - they simply consecrated it, dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and used it as a place of Christian worship.
King 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; a nave was constructed with the patronage of Carlos V, king of a united Spain.
The heavy, incongruous Baroque choir was sanctioned in the very heart of the mosque by Charles V in the 1520s . Artists and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century , making the Mezquita an intriguing architectural oddity. (Sacred Destinations, Spain)
Today, it continues to be one of the most splendid buildings in the world, capturing the conflicting worlds of Islam and Christianity, echoing the history of each. It is said that at one time the site was shared by both. It is also recorded that its beauty as a mosque was so captivating that the Christian kings who subsequently commissioned the construction of a Cathedral within the Islamic walls decided not to destroy it, retaining its original construction.
We were told of various instances in past years when some Muslim students came and prayed there as they would in a mosque, leading to a furor and some violence. Standing before this Cathedral you wonder, if perhaps, they still felt the awe of a grand mosque? It is unmistakable that the two are intertwined.
If religions could co-exist in the same manner, maybe the world would be a better place.
Copyright Neetu M. 2012
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The beauty and the beast of religion....
The world WOULD be a better place, if many of the religions shared the same places of worship, I think...
It certainly is beautiful!
Thank you, John. Much as religion has been a divisive and violent influence on society, one cannot deny that it has inspired some of the most spectacular and incredible feats of architecture and artistry. Rome would not be Rome, Cordoba would not be Cordoba without its magnificent architecture, inspired really and truly by religion. That applies to virtually every country, really.
A unity of all religions! What an idea, Dowser, and what an impossibility! Thanks, dear friend!
Lovely find, Bruce! Thank you!
Indeed, EI, my daughter told me how fascinating the Hagia Sophia was when she recently visited Istanbul! I have only seen the pictures, alas! The influence of the Byzantine and the Ottoman empires is very discernible in the images I have seen. It appears to be larger than the Cordoba Mezquita, but I am not sure.
Thanks for coming by!
Looks pricey. I bet you could build an entire village to combat homelessness for that price, including programs for helpingthe destitute tobecome independent, and schooling for homeless children. I see a monument to inverted priorities in those pictures.
Dowser I wish they would all use the same houses of worship.
That was the most intelligent thing I have heard today.
Thank you, luther, if we allow intelligence to guide us, we wouldn't be where we are!
It's a beautiful place, for sure.
Yes, it is, thank you, Grump!
Hal, true that all the wealth that went into religion could have been put to better use, but I suppose the money that is generated from the tourism now to these places of immense beauty can be put towards that, don't you think?
I doubt that tourism dollars are even enough to maintain such magnificent architecture. The last Vatican renovation went over budget by tens of millions of dollars. What would Jesus have to say about that? My guess is that he would be pissed. Just an observation.
You do have a point, Hal.
Even if they had anything in common, one has to remember that all religions are founded on "faith" not rationality or reason. Therein lies the fundamental problem. Faith relies on a suspension of disbelief, much as a fairytale does. "Faith" rejected Galileo's enlightened and well-founded observations, did it not? That was in Christianity. True that Islam seems to have frozen in a time much of the world has moved beyond, but whether it has stopped the education of mankind, as you say, I doubt it!
I do appreciate your point of view, Terry, and thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful Neetu. I had the opportunity to visit a couple of times. Being neither Christian nor Muslim, it's still an impressive building.
Thanks for the post.
Glad you got to visit it, Kavika. Like me, you saw it as an object of beauty.
BeautifulCathedral. I was there and you have done a wonderful job with yourdiscretion. You get a real understanding of thearchitectureas well as the history. Spain is very unique with the blend of Catholicismand Islam in both theirarchitectureand their culture.
Terry, we can speculate all we want on what might have been or could have happened had certain events in history that you refer to not happened. The truth is, we will never know that. What we do know is what we have. And Islamic influence of recent times has manifested itself in ways none of us want to see. The Spanish Inquisition was horrible too, as you have said. So were all events that were rooted in radicalism, whether of Islamic origin or Christian. Unfortunately, peace and progress are both hindered by the followers of radical faiths. That is what we know. That is what, I feel, we need to overcome, but sadly, we cannot seem to shake off the passions that ignite the bloody wars and heinous acts we see today.
spain is once again sacked, but this time by crushing debt, and an increasingly idiodic world bank/imf.
funny, without a shot, germany takes portugal, italy, greece, spain...
JoAnne, thank you. It isn't really that funny about Germany, though, is it? Germany has strong fundamentals and a solid manufacturing base.