In Awe of 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.