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Travel Photos..The Mesquita in Cordoba
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The Cathedral of Cordoba was once a great Mosque, known as the Mesquita. Construction of the Mosque began in the 8th Century. On this site there once stood a Christian Visigothic church, which in turn had been built over an Ancient Roman temple. Indeed, parts of the Roman temple and the Visigothic church were incorporated into the structure of the Mesquita.

When the Christian Kings had retaken Cordoba, as part of the Reconquista, they decided to turn it into a Catholic Cathedral; but, fortunately, much of the Arab architecture was left intact. Only a small section was converted in a Renaisance style.

Since Islam forbade the depiction of human figures in their mosques, the creative energies of their architects and artisans turned towards decorations with calligraphy, elaborate patterns and stylised plant motifs. Almost every surface was covered in fantastic shapes and colours, bringing joy to the eye.
Wikipedia has this to say about the Islamic horseshoe arch, as seen in the photo above:

The horseshoe arch, also called the Moorish arch and the Keyhole arch, is the emblematic arch of Islamic architecture. They were formerly constructed in Visigothic Spain. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form.

Horseshoe arches are known from pre-Islamic Syria where the form was used in the fourth century CE in the Baptistery of Mar Ya'qub (St. Jacob) at Nisibin. However, it was in Spain and North Africa that horseshoe arches developed their characteristic form. Prior to the Muslim invasion of Spain, the Visigoths used them as one of their main architectural features. The Visigothic form was adopted and developed by the Umayyads who accentuated the curvature of the horseshoe and added the alternating colours to accentuate the effect of its shape. This can be seen at a large scale in their major work, the Great Mosque of Córdoba.

This is the centrepiece of the great dome in the Mesquita.
The use of double arches between the columns apparently gives considerable strength and allows greater height for the ceiling.
There is a passage from Wikipedia which is worth quoting here:

In 1236, Córdoba was conquered by King Ferdinand III of Castile in the Reconquista, and the mosque was returned into a Catholic church. Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the mosque. The kings who followed added further Christian features, such as King Henry II rebuilding the chapel in the 14th century. The minaret of the mosque was also converted to the bell tower of the cathedral. It was adorned with Santiago de Compostela’s captured cathedral bells.

The most significant alteration was the building of a Renaissance cathedral nave right in the middle of the expansive structure. The insertion was constructed by permission of El Libertador Charles V, king of Castile and Aragon. However, when Charles V visited the completed cathedral he was displeased by the result and famously commented, "they have taken something unique in all the world and destroyed it to build something you can find in any city."

The mosque's reconversion to a Christian Catholic church, the Cathedral de Córdoba, may have helped to preserve it when the Spanish Inquisition was most active. Artisans and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century.

I think that Charles V was spot on with his comments about the Renaissance additions!
There is a very large, tree-lined courtyard within the precinct of the Mesquita, surrounded by a high set of walls.
On the right of this photo are the walls of the Mesquita. The tower in the centre has a Renaissance bell tower sitting atop an old Arab Minaret.
I leave you with this view of the double arched columns, which reminded ancient worshippers of the palm trees in an oasis in the desert.
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