After a long campaign by the Catholic Church in Cordoba aimed at "correcting" what it considers an excessive Islamic vision of the city's past, the church seeks to reduce the presence of Islamic heritage in the historical and tourist perspective of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, after the Spanish government officially recognized it, last February. , by subordination to the historical building of the church, to settle the long debate between historians, activists, and the church.

The church seeks recognition of the building primarily as a Christian monument and monument, and the latest step in this campaign came recently with the leaking of the Spanish newspaper El País a report by the Bishop of Cordoba Demetrio Fernandez Gonzalez that called for a “redesign of the entire space” of the mosque area to ensure that Cordoba is not considered a “city.” Islamic".

The ecclesiastical report criticized what it considered a "cultural reduction" that helped "transcend the brilliant past of Visigothic, Roman and Christian influence," while the Spanish newspaper described the report as "an attack against the clear and indisputable Islamic influence of the entire archaeological ensemble."

These efforts do not seem new of their kind. In the sixteenth century, when the Bishop of Cordoba built the nave and a wing in the middle of it, Carlos I, King of Italy and Spain, Archduke of Austria and head of the Holy Roman Empire, commented, "I built here what you or anyone else could have built in any other country." Another alternative place, but to do so I destroyed a unique landmark in the world."

The Cordoba complex was a wonderful architectural hybrid, integrating the artistic values ​​of East and West, adopting Roman and Gothic techniques, and including previously unknown elements in Islamic religious architecture such as the use of double arches to support the roof and mixing stone with bricks, and it was not only a religious house, but also the University of Cordoba, One of the greatest centers of learning in the world, according to an article by Kinan Malik for the British newspaper "The Guardian".


City of coexistence

Jose Miguel Puerta, professor of art history at the University of Granada, told the Spanish newspaper El Pais, "It is good to appreciate and highlight the Jewish or Christian past in Córdoba and the mosque, but not at the expense of concealing the Islamic heritage. Which cannot be denied or hidden, because it is a reflection of the city's greatest moment of splendor." ".

According to the Spanish newspaper, this is not the first time that the bishopric has tried to downplay the importance of the mosque and its Islamic influence. In 2017, the bishop presented in an interview an analysis of the state of culture in Cordoba, and Fernandez said, "In fact, the Umayyad caliphs did not have architects of their own and did not invent new art. "It is not Islamic art. They went from Damascus and took their Christian countrymen to Cordoba. But the art is not Islamic. It is Byzantine."

The bishop added about the building of Cordoba, "It is Christian Byzantine, the Moors (a pejorative name referring to the mixture of Arabs, Berbers and Europeans after the conquest of Andalusia) just invested the money."

Puerta commented, telling the newspaper, "You have to address these aspects from the point of view of all humanity, but silencing the past indicates a certain inferiority complex."

The academic, author of the book "The Umayyad Mosque of Cordoba, the Dome of Islam in Andalusia," concluded by saying, "Muslims saw Islam as a continuation of Christianity, and in the Middle East, where the Umayyads originated, there are the best examples of buildings in which Christian and Islamic art coexist," noting that the mosque- The cathedral is an example of this symbiosis with its Romanesque and Gothic pieces.

In 2015, 100 scholars, researchers and experts from 36 universities around the world, historians, Arabists, researchers in the history of the Middle Ages, and art specialists from famous universities in Spain and abroad, issued a statement saying that the legal basis for registering the ownership of the Cordoba Mosque in the name of the Episcopate is very weak. , because the order issued in 1236 by the Spanish King Ferdinando III cannot be considered a royal gift, but rather it is an authorization from the king to usufruct and use and not a right to own.

The signatories considered that the Archdiocese of Cordoba raises controversy over the ownership of the mosque, which was declared by UNESCO in 1984 a world heritage.

They demanded the repair of the deteriorated architectural elements and the translation of the Arabic writings in the mosque, as the episcopate printed phrases from which any mention of the Cordoba Mosque disappeared, and the signs at the tourist site bear the phrase "The episcopate welcomes you to the cathedral church."

Wonderful Cordoba

Although it was converted into a church in 1236 after the fall of Cordoba, the site of the Mosque of Cordoba preserved its architectural character despite the expansions and renovations that occurred before and after its transformation into a Christian cathedral in the 13th century, and were consistent with its original form.

Roman columns were used in the construction, some of which were already present in the same place, and some of which were donated by the rulers of the Iberian provinces. Ivory, gold, silver and copper were used to design mosaics and decorations. Scented wood panels were attached with gold nails, and the site was distinguished by red marble columns.

The mosque was built during almost two and a half centuries, starting in the year 92 AH, in Cordoba, the Umayyad capital of Andalusia, and Muslims and Christians in Cordoba shared the same place, some of which were a mosque and the other a church, but Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil bought part of the church and added it to the mosque in exchange for rebuilding what was demolished Of the churches at the time of entering Andalusia.

And in the year 340 AH, Abd al-Rahman al-Nasser began building a large minaret for the Great Mosque. Later, al-Mansur added an expansion and took care of the construction.

When Cordoba fell into the hands of the Castilians in 1236, they turned the mosque into a church they called "Santa Maria the Great".

Since then, the appearance of the mosque has gradually transformed into its current image, and the Castilians added to it some additions that changed its features, but did not change the essence of the building.

But the fundamental change occurred in the year 1523 AD, when the Archdiocese of Cordoba demolished a large part of the expansion of Abd al-Rahman al-Awsat, and built a cathedral.