Happy Thursday!
Few months ago I went to Spain for the first time and discovered few beautiful places that I really liked. From today I will be sharing those places with you all. I kicked off my trip in Granada, but I went to Cordoba the next day, so I am starting the Spain travel series with it.
Cordoba is a two hours drive from Granda and it is a lovely small city with lots of heritage. The highlight of it was the gorgeous grand mosque. It originally was The Visigothic Church of St Vincent, but the last Ummyad's ruler who fled after the Abbasid's call for power, Abd Al Rahman I, purchased it after he became the new ruler of Cordoba (Infoplease.com, 2015). He enlarged the mosque to cater for the growing Muslim population of the city. Then two major enlargements took place (English.turismodecordoba.org, 2015). Afterwards, the Christian conquest came and the Muslim era ended, where the mosque was turned into a Cathedral. Some parts of the mosque were sadly destroyed during adding the cathedral. The king of that time regretted it and said: ‘You have built what you or others might have built anywhere, but you have destroyed something that was unique in the world’ (Lonely Planet, 2015).
The architecture and the interior design of the place are beautiful. The shadows and light were breathtaking in the space. I imagine that mix added to the spirituality of the mosque back in the day when Muslims were in it. The stripes painted on the arches reminded me of the ones in Prophet Mohammad's mosque in Madinah, Peace Upon him and his household.
It was funny, when I was about to enter, the guard told me that I wasn't allowed to pray inside not like I was planning to, but I found it interesting that he had the need to tell me and not tell others.
Overall, I enjoyed the visit and all the history within. It was a great example of interfaith design and architecture minus all the tragedies that happened in that point of history.
Resources:
Infoplease.com, (2015). Abd ar-Rahman I, emir of Córdoba. [online] Available at: http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/abd-ar-rahman-i-emir-cordoba.html [Accessed 22 Jan. 2015].
LonelyPlanet.com, (2015). Mezquita - Lonely Planet. [online] Lonely Planet. Available at: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/andalucia/cordoba/sights/religious/mezquita [Accessed 22 Jan. 2015].
English.turismodecordoba.org, (2015). Tourism of Cordoba - Muslim Cordoba. [online] Available at: http://english.turismodecordoba.org/muslim-cordoba.cfm [Accessed 22 Jan. 2015].