The Mosque of Cordoba, established by the Arabs within 75 years of their conquest of Andalusia in 711 AD, was founded by the Umayyads in stages between the late eighth and early tenth centuries AD, and remained for centuries a center of science and knowledge in the world, and graduated a group of senior Muslim scholars.
Historians considered it one of the eyes of international architectural treasures and masterpieces, and the beginnings of its establishment were associated with the name of the founder of the Umayyad dynasty in Andalusia, Abdul Rahman Al-Dakhil, and 7 generations of architects worked in its successive expansions, during 245 years.
Cordoba was proud of it as one of its monuments that have survived for more than 13 centuries, as it preserved its architectural character, despite the expansions and renovations that followed it before and after its transformation into a Christian cathedral in 1236 AD.
Nomenclature
It still bears its old name "Masjid Jama" ("Methqueta" as the Spaniards call it), despite attempts to erase its name, history and Islamic identity.
It was initially called the "Hadra Mosque", i.e. the Caliph's Mosque as the official mosque of the state, and the caliph chose his imam and signed the decree appointing him, and the Almohad historian Abdul Wahid al-Marrakchi called it the "Great Mosque".
From the veneration and glorification of his value when the people of Andalusia, His Highness "the blessed mosque" and "the honorable mosque", as he did not spend an dirham only from a fifth of the sheep, according to the accounts of historians, and it was said "no one prays and calls for something of the order of the world and the hereafter but respond to him", and when one of them left Cordoba was visiting him blessed by it, as it was called "Al-Naranj Mosque", because lemon trees were surrounding it from all sides.
Site
The Great Mosque of Cordoba is located southwest of the city of Cordoba (southern Spain) on a rocky spot on the bank of the Great Valley, in front of it along the eastern façade of the Principality Palace (now the Episcopal Palace), and behind it lies the giant ancient waterwheel only tens of meters.
It was surrounded by the upper city district at the time (Old Cordoba or the Kasbah as it was called) amid a network of ancient Andalusian paths, and its main door was the most important door of the emirate's palaces, and is newly known as "Bab al-Ghufran".
Between the mosque and the palace of the caliphate extends a covered arch called the Sabat, which the emir or caliph used to cross to the mosque, and today between them is a street called Thurikhos (formerly called the Great Argument or Great Railway), which leads to the old Arab arch or the ancient bridge that connects the edges of the Umayyad Mosque with a castle on the opposite side.
Area & Building
The first part of the mosque, built by the Umayyad Emir of Cordoba, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muawiyah, nicknamed "the interior", was away from the bank of the Great Valley, and then the building expanded over more than two hundred years, until it reached the lip of the river during the reign of al-Mustansir, the eighth Umayyad caliph.
Its first construction area did not exceed 4875 square meters, eventually reaching 23,400 square meters, accommodating 80,50 worshipers, 30,<> inside and <>,<> in the courtyard.
The Qurtubi Mosque was built in the style of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, but Dr. Hussein Munis in his book "The Journey of Andalusia", quotes Muhammad Labib al-Batnouni as confirming that it was built on the system of the Prophet's Mosque as built by Al-Walid bin Abdul Malik in Medina.
Stature
Building specialists in Morocco and Andalusia took its architectural and decorative elements as an example to follow in their religious structures. While it is now the prototype of Andalusian architecture, it is more than 460 years older than the Alhambra, and 150 years older than Madinat al-Zahra.
The mosque was a place of worship, a center of science and administration, the seat of power and governance, and a house of justice and the judiciary, and in its sanctuary were the ceremonies of taking allegiance to the caliphs, and from above his pulpit was announcing new laws and decrees and informing religious events, and celebrating it to go out in jihad campaigns, as poets were delivering their poems in the outer courtyards of the mosque.
The number of employees and administrators of the Mosque of Cordoba, including imams, preachers, reciters, muezzins, sedans, stoves and servants, was 300 people, who received 800 dinars per month in different homes, and a reward for their rank and work.
Establishment
In the year 785 AD (169 AH), the founder of the Umayyad dynasty in Andalusia, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muawiyah (interior), gave the order to build the first mosque in the country, the last work of his reign.
Some historical references mention that the Umayyad prince bought land - which was a church - for a hundred thousand dinars to annex it to the mosque, and spent about 80,300 dinars on it, estimated by the historian Ibn Adhari at about <>,<> dollars.
The site of its construction was on a rocky spot close to the Arabian arch, and this choice allows architecturally the stability of the floor and the abundance of water. Al-Tabi Hanash Al-San'ani, the architect of Andalusian mosques, supervised its construction and establishment, especially the identification, modification and evaluation of its qiblah and the guidance of its mihrab, and invented its double contracts, so this structural system remained effective in successive Andalusian expansions.
The construction of the first part of the Qurtubi Mosque was worked every day by a thousand people from the industrial pedestal, including 300 builders, 200 carpenters and 500 wage earners, while the owner of the prayer, Sasa'a bin Salam al-Shami, was entrusted with planting his plate with orange trees in accordance with the doctrine of Imam al-Awza'i, who permitted it, and then delivered water to it through a canal extending from the foot of Mount Arous near Cordoba, and it has become an Andalusian tradition ever since.
The original form of the mosque during this stage consisted of the courtyard, the prayer hall and 11 porticoes - and in another version 9 arcades -, and the prince nicknamed "Saqr Quraish" postponed the construction of the silo until after its decoration, so he temporarily took one of the towers of the palace as a silo, and performed prayers in it in 786 AD (170 AH), but he died before its completion.
He was succeeded by his son Hisham I, known as "Radi", so he completed the construction in 787 AD, and the owner of the "Al-Bayan Al-Maghrib" reported its details, saying: "Then his son Hisham increased a silo that was 40 cubits high to the place of the call to prayer, and built at the end of the mosque sheds for women's prayers, and ordered the construction of the light east of the mosque."
The Mosque of Cordoba is considered by historians as one of the eyes of world architectural treasures and masterpieces (French)
Expansion and renewal
First expansion
The princes and caliphs of Bani Umayyah successively expanded and renovated the mosque in 3 main stages, the first was when the gradual development of Cordoba prompted Prince Abdul Rahman II (middle) in a first stage in 833 AD (218 AH) to add two porticoes on both sides of the chapel, and 8 new rows of columns (tiles).
In a second stage, the qibla wall was demolished and began to decorate the mosque, and he died before the completion of these works, so his son Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman completed it in 855 AD (241 AH), and added in 864 AD (250 AH) a compartment next to the mihrab.
Prince Al-Mundhir bin Muhammad restored and renovated the decorations of the mosque and repaired its sheds, and introduced the house of money to it, then Prince Abdullah bin Muhammad erected the first bridge called Al-Sabbat, a two-story corridor connected to the palace of the caliphate, and he was the first to take this from the princes of Bani Umayyah, according to the narration of Ibn Adhara.
Second expansion
In 951 AD (340 AH) was a second increase in the reign of Caliph Abdul Rahman III (Nasser), has touched on the details of the Muqri by saying, "Nasser ordered the demolition of the first silo, and erected the magnificent silo, digging in its foundation until the water reached a period of 43 days, and when it was completed rode to it from Madinat al-Zahra, and climbed in the silo from one of the stairs and descended from the second, then went out and prayed two rak'ahs in the cabin and left."
What Nasser spent – the last prince and the first to be called the caliph of the Umayyads – in the minaret and the modification of the mosque amounted to 7 supplies and two and a half kilos of Qasimia dirhams, and the height of the minaret reached 80 cubits, double what the first minaret was.
Third Expansion
In 965 AD (355 AH), a third expansion took place in which the mosque took its final form, and that was during the reign of Caliph Hisham bin Al-Hakam bin Al-Nasser (Al-Mustansir), who personally supervised the estimation of the increase and detailed its construction, and entrusted his bailiff Jaafar bin Abdul Rahman Al-Siqali to follow up its work.
The extension of the prayer hall was longitudinal towards the south, with the construction of 4 domes, a third mihrab and a 9-step wooden pulpit.
Historians mention that the mihrab tightened its work and engraving in 7 years, and it worked in 8 makers, each maker every day half of Mohammedan's weight, so the total amount spent on the pulpit was only 10 thousand weights and 50 weights.
Al-Mustansir also increased the length of the arcades of the chapel towards the south after the demolition of the qibla wall a second time and its reconstruction, and ordered the work of the canopy (cabin) on the courtyard of the mosque, and built a sidewalk along the mosque to be a park for the people of Cordoba called "Al-Mustansiri sidewalk".
Al-Mustansir opened his reign with these expansions, which lasted 4 years, and spent 261 thousand and 537 dinars, and with them "completed the beauties of this mosque and became in a limit that falls short of description," as historians believe that it represents the pinnacle of the history of architecture in the Islamic West.
After the completion of the construction, he stopped on the mosque a quarter of his wealth that he inherited from his father Nasser, and the historian of the Almohad state Abdul Wahid Marrakchi that Abu Marwan bin Hayyan told "that the judgment when increased its famous increase, people avoided praying in it for days, so reached that ruler asked about his fault, it was said that they say what we know these dirhams that he spent in this structure from where he acquired it, so he recalled witnesses and the judge Abu Al-Hakam Al-Mundhir bin Saeed Al-Qurtubi, and received the qiblah and swore the legal oath that took place The custom is that he did not spend a dirham on it except from one-fifth of the sheep, and then the people prayed in it when they knew of his oath."
Fourth expansion
The final expansion was in 987 AD during the reign of Muhammad bin Abi Amer (Hajib Al-Mustansir), known as Al-Mansur Al-Hajib, and it was the largest expansion in terms of area, as it was carried out by the owner of the police in Cordoba named Abdullah bin Saeed bin Bakri, who added 245 columns and necklaces, and also increased the area of the courtyard, and spent 161 thousand dinars.
In 1523, the Archdiocese of Cordoba demolished a large part of the expansion of Abd al-Rahman al-Awsat, and built a cathedral (French).
Technical features of the collector
كان الجامع القرطبي أكثر المساجد أهمية معمارية وزخرفية، فقد ضم في عناصره أصول الفن الأموي طوال قرنين ونصف القرن من الزمان، منها:
- امتاز الجامع بظاهرة معمارية مبتكرة، تتعلق بالعقود (الأقواس) المزدوجة المقامة على دورين، أحدهما فوق الآخر، لزيادة ارتفاع السقف حتى يصبح متناسبا مع مساحته، وهما على شكل حذوة حصان يعلوها نصف دائرة، وتشتمل على قناة عرضها 54 سم تستخدم لتصريف مياه المطر.
- امتاز بنيانه باللون الآجر الأحمر ولون الكتل الحجرية الأصفر، وتربيع الزخارف الهندسية بثنائية اللونين الأحمر والأبيض (الأبيض لون الأمويين)، وهو أسلوب بنائي تقليدي أصبح إحدى خصائص عمارة الأمويين القرطبيين، التي جعلت الكثير من تصميماتهم التزيينية متفردة.
- 4 قباب متسلسلة على بلاط المحراب، وهو ابتكار أصيل، شكّل اللبنة الأولى في فن بناء القباب في تاريخ العمارة الأندلسية، وكان تخطيط المحراب على شكل مثمن الأضلاع لم يتبع أصولا سابقة، تعلوه 7 نوافذ تعبيرا عن السماوات السبع، أما مصباحه فكان مصنوعا من الذهب الخالص.
- كان المنبر يتألف من 37 ألف قطعة عاج ومن الأخشاب المعطرة النادرة مثل خشب الأبنوس وعود الند والصندل، وكلها مطعّمة بالجواهر، مع مسامير تثبت المنبر من الفضة والذهب.
- مئذنة تبلغ حوالي 80 مترا، وقبة كانت قائمة على 365 عمودا من المرمر، وهي عبارة عن برج ضخم له شرفتان للأذان، يُصعد إليها بسلم داخلي لا يزال قائما.
- كان بالجامع ما يقارب 360 نافذة، قيل إنها بعدد أيام السنة، وإن الشمس تدخل كل يوم من إحدى هذه النوافذ ثم تنتقل للتي تليها ولا تعود إلا في العام التالي، بينما كانت الإنارة في الليل بـ4700 مصباح، تستنفد كل عام 24 ألف رطل من الزيت و120 رطل من العنبر والعود، وقيل إن المسجد كان به تنور من نحاس أصفر يتسع لألف مصباح.
- ضم حرم المسجد 11 جناحا عموديا على الجدار القبلي، ويعد ذلك إبداعا متفردا، على عكس المساجد الأخرى، والتي كانت متصلة فيما بينها وموازية لجدار القبلة، كما كان يحتوي على أعمدة قدّر عددها بين 1200 و1400 عمود، وأكثر من ألف سارية، و21 بابا جميعها ملبسة بالنحاس الأصفر، وبقي منها اليوم 12 بابا على بعضها نقوشها الأصلية.
- عدد من المقصورات، منها مقصورة دار الصدقة غربي الجامع، جعلها عبد الرحمن الداخل مركزا لتوزيع الصدقات، ومقصورة أخرى أمام الباب الغربي كان الفقراء وعابرو السبيل يقيمون فيها.
- فناء الجامع زرع بأشجار الليمون والنارنج، وهو شجر مُعمر دائم الخضرة ويعرف في بلاد الشام باسم "شجر أبو صفير"، ولا يزال المكان يضم العديد منها إلى اليوم، حتى صار يطلق على الفناء صحن النارنج، وقد أصبح ذلك تقليدا متّبعا في تخطيط صحون المساجد الأندلسية.
A beacon of science and knowledge
The mosque occupied a prominent scientific position since the beginning of its inception until it became a university for all sciences, and the princes of Andalusia followed the cultural launch of the mosque until it reached the height of its civilizational and cultural brilliance during the era of Al-Nasser and his son Al-Mustansir.
It had 27 schools, following the system of scientific angles, including the corner of Sheikh Abu Bakr bin Muawiyah al-Qurashi in the sciences of hadith, and the corner of Abu Ali al-Qali, who used to provide lessons about the Arabs before Islam and their language and their likes, and Ibn al-Gothic was studying grammar.
The mosque was like a modern university, offering religious sciences and natural sciences, called Dar al-Uloom, Majma' al-Ulama and Kaaba al-Maarifa. The students of science came in thousands from all over Europe, Asia and Africa, until their number reached more than 4 thousand students, provided them with various services such as accommodation and food, and paid them and their elders salaries.
From its spaciousness graduated a constellation of scientists such as the pioneer of aviation Abbas bin Firnas, the historian Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Musa al-Razi, the surgeon Abu al-Qasim al-Hrawi, the jurist and minister Ibn Hazm al-Qurtubi, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Abd al-Barr, the geographer Sharif al-Idrisi and others, and Pope Sylvester II was the most famous Christian who learned about it when he was a monk.
Therefore, the University of Cordoba was the model on which Westerners built their universities, such as Oxford, Cabridge, Badu and Paris. They maintained its tradition of wearing black graduation uniforms and a square-shaped headscarf, which were given to university graduates when they received a professorship or international degree.
The flag podium was surmounted by a marble plaque bearing the verse "May God raise those of you who believe and those who have attained knowledge degrees", which was found inscribed on one of the graduation certificates issued by the University of Cordoba, dating back to 890 AD, and now kept in the museum of a British university.
The mosque also contained a huge library of about 40,<> manuscripts and books in various arts, sciences and literature, many of which moved to European universities and museums after the Arabs left Andalusia.
One of the doors of the façade of the Mosque of Córdoba, decorated in white (symbolizing the Umayyads) and red (Shutterstock)
Events that passed through the mosque
Year 400 AH: It was looted following the conflict between Andalusian princes.
1326: He was vandalized in an invasion of the priests of Córdoba, and Muslims were prevented from entering the mosque.
1523: The Archdiocese of Córdoba demolished a large part of the expansion of Abd al-Rahman al-Awsat, and built a cathedral. When Roman Emperor Charles V saw it after authorizing the demolition, it was said that "if I knew what you were aiming for, I would not allow it, what you are doing here can be found anywhere, whereas what you previously possessed is nowhere else in the world."
The mosque's minaret was replaced in 1593 and 1664, the dome was removed along with 163 columns, and some of its roof was removed; 400 lamps of pure silver were looted by the French in Napoleon I's raid on Spain.
1560: The mayor of the city issued a decree to execute anyone who participated in the demolition of the columns of the mosque, which the bishop called for to establish a university church in the middle of it.
1589: An earthquake caused a crack in part of the silo, and between 1593 and 1653 a new building was built around the original building of the mosque to strengthen it.
1932: Pakistani poet Muhammad Iqbal visited him and authorized him to pray there, making him the first Muslim to pray in the Cordoba mosque 6 centuries after his conversion to a church.
1984: The mosque was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
2006: The Archdiocese of Córdoba declared ownership of the Cordoba Mosque building, and its name was removed from websites, flyers and tour directory.
2007: Top of Spain's 12 treasures.
2014: Recognized by UNESCO as a heritage of exceptional universal value.
2015: The Spanish band "Madinat al-Zahra" released a rock song called "Cordoba is the mosque" in defense of the historic Mosque of Cordoba, which was performed in the eighties of the last century entitled "I walk in the mosque".
2018: A UNESCO-included expert panel report confirmed that the historic Cordoba Mosque "never belonged to the Catholic Church" but is one of the most prominent Islamic landmarks in Andalusia.
2021: Historical researcher Jesús Badiba published a paper titled "Ownership of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba", in which he revealed that the ownership claimed by the church is based on errors, particularly those found in ancient manuscripts, which mention the mosque for 600 years.
2023: The Spanish government officially recognizes the affiliation of the historic building to the mosque, settling a long debate between historians, activists and the church.
February 28, 2023: Britain's The Times newspaper unveils plans for a visitor centre that include targets to promote claims that the mosque has Christian origins.
What they said about the mosque
French historian Gustave Le Bon said "The Mosque of Cordoba is still one of the important buildings, with the damage and corruption caused by the Spaniards, and with that vast church that they erected in it to cleanse it, and what the Spaniards made was that they covered the decorations of its wall and writings, and removed the mosaics of its land, and sold its wooden ceiling artifacts carved and forged, so whoever wishes to represent what the Mosque of Cordoba was should look at its mihrab, which alone escapes vandalism."
Professor of Islamic and Andalusian history Abd al-Rahman Hajji wrote "This mosque of hers, which was not like it in the countries of Islam, and you visit it if it were not for the fact that it is in front of you, retaining some of its importance, holding together the rest of its art, and its architecture covers some of its beauty, you can hardly believe the existence of this unique rare or unparalleled art, and it announces that and calls you authority, faith and tenderness. It is so until this moment, and it has endured the pains of distortion, distortion and discharge, so how come it has been built for 13 centuries, you visit it once stunned, and taken again and sad after that. The describers, historians, geographers, visitors, poets, writers and scholars, have mastered it, sayings, melodies and ashjana."
The American historian Joseph McCabe "Only one monument of Cordoba remains in the Middle Ages, and that is its mosque, which is still today, all the children of Cordoba call it a mosque, and without it no one would have bothered to travel to see Cordoba, even if it was 5 miles from it, but people from all over the world travel to see it."
The Qurtubi poet Antonio Gala said "If I had to identify the monument among the humble and magnificent that influenced me the most, I would have chosen without hesitation the mosque of Cordoba, if my life had not bloomed and bloomed in Cordoba, or if Cordoba had not kept its mosque, my life would have been very different."
Dutch orientalist Dozy reported "As for the University of the Mosque of Cordoba, it was then the most famous university in the world, and various sciences, religious and natural, were taught."
French thinker Roger Garaudy said "The Mosque of Cordoba carries in its edifice the universal message of Andalusian Islam, in the forest of its columns the visitor meets eternity."
The historian Taha Al-Wali "The jewel of mosques, the crown of temples and the pinnacle of art from Tarif and Tald".
The poet and literary critic Adonis wrote, on a previous visit, "I had visited more than once the mosque of the 'marvel of artistic engineering' of the mosque of Cordoba. In particular, I stopped at the genius of the hand, coupled with the genius of the imagination, as if the collector, in this perspective, is a sky on earth. This sky has constellations, arches and columns. This is how it looks like a planet of wings. The "forms" introduced in the name of the Church seem to be a crowd of cages and shackles. They are misplaced forms (additions), body and soul."