Things to Do in Andalusia: Top Attractions & Tourist Spots (2024)

5. Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

7.8

4.6/5130 Reviews

based on 29.2k reviews

Mosques

MaxSThis building is officially called politically correct: "The Mosque-Cathedral Complex in Cordoba." But colloquially, the name is shorter — the Mosque "Alhamah", or simply "Mosque", or "Mesquite".As in most other cities with a history dating back thousands of years, most of the buildings stand in place of those that existed before. So, once in the center of Roman Cordoba there was a temple dedicated to the sun god. Later, the Visigoths built the temple of San Vicente in its place. After the transfer of the city to the Arabs in 711, both Muslims and Christians used it together, dividing it into two zones. But the prosperous city grew rapidly, space became scarce, and in 786, Abdarrahman I bought the Christian part of the church and some other buildings around. In just a few years, a magnificent mosque was built on this site.Columns, capitals, and stone from various Roman and Visigothic structures in Spain, Europe, and even Africa were used to speed up construction. Therefore, the oldest part of Mesquite is actually an archaeological museum.Later, as the city grew, the Mosque was expanded three times under different rulers: under Abdarrahman II and Alhakim II, the length increased to the south, to the river, and to the north, due to the expansion of the courtyard. Under Vizier Almanzor (Al Mansour), the largest increase in the complex took place, almost doubling, due to an extension on the eastern side. As a result, the total area reached almost 24 thousand square meters.Before going inside, we walked around this giant rectangle from three sides. As always, with the arrival of Christians, Muslim and Christian details began to become closely intertwined. For example, on the southern facade there are Christian frescoes and sculptures under the Arab arches.

Available for today

Spain · Cordoba Province

From £12.03