Kiwi Roaming

One of the highlights of our trip so far has been visiting the Mezquita – known as the Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba. I will write more about the city itself in the next blog and concentrate on this UNESCO world heritage first.

Even on the map it looks like a large complex, we walked around the permitter on our first night in Córdoba and were impressed with what you can see of the walls outside. But when you go in all you can say is wow! over and over again. It is stunning. Old, huge, complex, clever and stunning.

The general premise is a mosque was once built on the site, it was constructed in record time by reusing the Roman columns from the building that was there before it, and the architect in 785 was so impressed with the Roman arch style of construction he leveraged this in the design of the mosque. Then successive Emir’s over the next 200 hundred years constructed extensions until it reached its current footprint of 24,000sqm! Said to have once held 40,000 worshipers it is massive.

Then in 1236 the Christians took control of Córdoba and the process of converting the mosque into a cathedral commenced. The best way to describe it today is all the way around – on all 4 sides – sits the mosque, with the amazing columns made of stone and marble with brick and cement arches above. Then in the middle is a huge double height cathedral with two organs, a full choir area, statues, paintings and stained glass light wells. The juxtaposition of the two religions sitting side by side in a single building is simply beautiful to see.

Near the middle of the oldest part of the mosque is a glass floor which shows us Roman mosaic floors found below the mosque during archeological investigations – which is cool. There are also tombs throughout and these enormous privately funded chapels all around the outside with ornate gold stuff, paintings, rugs, statues and private tombs as well – selling off these sections is what the Catholic Church used to fund the construction of the massive cathedral in the centre of the building.

Open to the public you can go to church there every morning at 9:30am. We opted for a tour which meant we learned all about the phases of construction, how the labour was brought over from Constantinople, the stone used, the battles various bishops had to keep the building from being demolished and the impact of earthquakes and attacks over the centuries.

Outside there is a courtyard of orange trees, it’s really strange to us as is raised and the entire courtyard capped with stones inlaid in concrete. Throughout there are irrigation channels which make a grid pattern. There is also a bell tower which we didn’t go up and hanging under the eves of the building are all of the original ceiling panels which had to be replaced over the years due to deterioration.

So glad we came to Córdoba to see this amazing building. How well it’s been preserved and how it functions for two discretely different religions. My photos don’t really do it justice – the height, the depth or the ornate design. This is a must see.