View source for Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba

{{Short description|Cathedral and former mosque in Córdoba, Spain}}
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{{EngvarB|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox church
| name                   = Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba
| native_name            = {{nativename|es|Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba}}
| native_name_lang       = Spanish
| fullname               = Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption
| other name             = 
| image                  = Mezquita de Córdoba desde el aire (Córdoba, España).jpg
| caption                =
| coordinates            = {{coord|37|52|45|N|04|46|47|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| location               = [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Córdoba]]
| country                = Spain
| denomination           = [[Catholic Church]]
| sui iuris church       = [[Latin Church]]
| previous denomination  = [[Islam]]
| address                = 1, Cardenal Herrero Street
| website                = {{URL|mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es}}
| status                 = [[Cathedral]]
| dedication             = [[Assumption of Mary]]
| dedicated date         = 1236
| style                  = [[Moorish architecture|Moorish]], [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] (with [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] and [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] elements)
| years built            = 
| groundbreaking         = 785 (as a mosque)
| completed date         = 1607 (last major addition as cathedral)
| tower quantity         = 1
| tower height           = {{convert|54|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| metropolis             = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville|Seville]]
| diocese                = [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Córdoba|Diocese of Córdoba]]
| bishop                 = [[Demetrio Fernández González]]
| embedded               = 
{{designation list 
| embed                 = yes
| designation1          = WHS
| designation1_partof   = [[Historic Centre of Cordoba]]
| designation1_date     = 1984 {{small|(8th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])}}
| designation1_criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(i), (ii), (iii), (iv)}}i, ii, iii, iv
| designation1_number   = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/313]
| designation2          = Spain
| designation2_type     = Non-movable
| designation2_criteria = Monument
| designation2_date     = 21 November 1882
| designation2_number   = RI-51-0000034
}}
}}
The '''Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catedraldecordoba.es/ |title=Web Oficial del Conjunto Monumental Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba|access-date=15 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="britannica">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/137398/Mosque-Cathedral-of-Cordoba |title=Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |access-date=15 August 2016}}</ref> ({{langx|es|Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba}} {{IPA|es|meθˈkita kateˈðɾal de ˈkoɾðoβa|}}) is the [[cathedral]] of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Córdoba]] in the Spanish region of [[Andalusia]]. Officially called the '''Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption''' ({{langx|es|Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción|links=no}}), it is dedicated to the [[Assumption of Mary]].<ref>{{cite book|title=100 Countries, 5,000 Ideas|year=2011|publisher=National Geographic Society|isbn=9781426207587|page=299|quote=The eight-century Great Mosque with double arches in Córdoba was transformed into the Cathedral of our Lady of Assumption.}}</ref><ref name="Daniel2013">{{cite book|last=Daniel|first=Ben|title=The Search for Truth about Islam|quote=The church is Catholic and has been for centuries, but when Catholic Spaniards expelled the local Arabic and Muslim population (the people they called the Moors) in 1236, they didn't do what the Catholic Church tended to do everywhere else when it moved in and displaced locally held religious beliefs: they didn't destroy the local religious shrine and build a cathedral of the foundations of the sacred space that had been knocked down. Instead, they built a church inside and up through the roof of the mosque, and then dedicated the entire space to Our Lady of the Assumption and made it the cathedral for the Diocese of Córdoba.|year=2013|publisher=[[Westminster John Knox Press]]|isbn=9780664237059|page=93}}</ref> Due to its status as a former [[mosque]], it is also known as the {{langnf|es|'''Mezquita'''|mosque|i=no|links=no}}<ref name="Petersen2002">{{cite book|author=Andrew Petersen|title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9A-EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|year= 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-61365-6|page=55}}</ref><ref name="CunninghamReich2016">{{cite book|author1=Lawrence S. Cunningham|author2=John J. Reich|author3=Lois Fichner-Rathus|title=Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities, Volume I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nee5DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA262|date= 2016|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-337-51494-1|page=262}}</ref> and in a historical sense as the '''Great Mosque of Córdoba'''.<ref name="unesco">{{cite web|title=Historic Centre of Cordoba|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/313|access-date=17 Aug 2016|publisher=UNESCO|quote=The Great Mosque of Cordoba was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1984}}</ref><ref name="britannica"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Lapunzina|first=Alejandro|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yDmR2i32cygC&pg=PA81|title=Architecture of Spain|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2005|isbn=9780313319631|page=81}}</ref>

According to traditional accounts a [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigothic]] church, the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Christian [[Basilica]] of [[Vincent of Saragossa]], originally stood on the site of the current Mosque-Cathedral, although this has been a matter of scholarly debate.<ref name=grove/><ref name=khoury/> The Great Mosque was constructed in 785 on the orders of [[Abd al-Rahman I]], founder of the Islamic [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad]] [[Emirate of Córdoba]].<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":24">{{Cite book |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan M. |pages=505–508 |chapter=Córdoba |editor-last2=Blair |editor-first2=Sheila S.}}</ref> It was expanded multiple times afterwards under Abd al-Rahman's successors up to the late 10th century. Among the most notable additions, [[Abd al-Rahman III]] added a [[minaret]] (finished in 958) and his son [[al-Hakam II]] added a richly decorated new ''[[mihrab]]'' and ''[[maqsurah]]'' section (finished in 971).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> The mosque was [[conversion of mosques into non-Islamic places of worship|converted to a cathedral]] in 1236 when Córdoba was [[Siege of Córdoba (1236)|captured]] by the Christian forces of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] during the ''[[Reconquista]]''. The structure itself underwent only minor modifications until a major building project in the 16th century inserted a new [[Renaissance]] cathedral [[nave]] and [[transept]] into the center of the building. The former minaret, which had been converted to a [[bell tower]], was also significantly remodelled around this time. Starting in the 19th century, modern restorations have in turn led to the recovery and study of some of the building's Islamic-era elements.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":82">{{Cite journal|last=Ecker|first=Heather|date=2003|title=The Great Mosque of Córdoba in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1523329|journal=Muqarnas|volume=20|pages=113–141|doi=10.1163/22118993-90000041|jstor=1523329|quote=Finally, adding to present difficulties in perceiving the sequence of post-conquest restorations, additions, and demolitions is the fact that the cathedral has to a certain extent been 're-islamicized': twentieth-century restorers have removed medieval sarcophagi and other structures from around the mihrab area and along the qibla wall, erected a sort of maqsura structure around the same area, and replaced the ceiling with one based on that of the Great Mosque of Qayrawan.}}</ref> Today, the building continues to serve as the city's cathedral and [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] is celebrated there daily.<ref name="Armstrong2013">{{cite book|last=Armstrong|first=Ian|title=Spain and Portugal|publisher=Avalon Travel Publishing|year=2013|isbn=9781612370316|quote=On this site originally stood the Visigoths' Christian Church of San Vicente, but when the Moors came to town in 758 CE they knocked it down and constructed a mosque in its place. When Córdoba fell once again to the Christians, King Ferdinand II and his successors set about Christianizing the structure, most dramatically adding the bright pearly white Renaissance nave where mass is held every morning.}}</ref>

The mosque structure is an important monument in the history of [[Islamic architecture]] and was highly influential on the subsequent [[Moorish architecture|"Moorish" architecture]] of the western [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] regions of the [[Muslim world]]. It is also one of Spain's major [[national monuments of Spain|historic monuments]] and tourist attractions,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Top things to do in Spain|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/top-things-to-do|access-date=2020-12-10|website=Lonely Planet|language=en}}</ref> as well as a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] since 1984.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Historic Centre of Cordoba|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/313/|access-date=2020-12-10|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
=== Claims of earlier Roman temple ===
A claim that the site of the mosque-cathedral was once a [[Roman temple]] dedicated to [[Janus]] dates as far back as [[Pablo de Céspedes]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ingram|first=Kevin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPx9DwAAQBAJ&q=cordoba+temple+janus&pg=PA160|title=Converso Non-Conformism in Early Modern Spain: Bad Blood and Faith from Alonso de Cartagena to Diego Velázquez|publisher=Springer|year=2018|isbn=9783319932361|pages=160}}</ref><ref name=":20">{{Cite book|last=Urquízar-Herrera|first=Antonio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QXTJDgAAQBAJ&q=cordoba+temple+janus&pg=PA160|title=Admiration and Awe: Morisco Buildings and Identity Negotiations in Early Modern Spanish Historiography|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017|isbn=9780192518002|pages=160}}</ref> and is sometimes still repeated today.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Great Mosque of Cordoba (article)|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/ap-art-islamic-world-medieval/a/the-great-mosque-of-cordoba|access-date=2020-12-11|website=Khan Academy|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Gould|first=Joan|date=1989-05-28|title=Cordoba's Hymn to Islam (Published 1989)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/28/travel/cordoba-s-hymn-to-islam.html|access-date=2020-12-11|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mezquita de Córdoba|url=https://archnet.org/sites/2715|access-date=2020-12-11|website=Archnet}}</ref> However, [[Robert Knapp (classicist)|Robert Knapp]], in his overview of Roman-era Córdoba, has dismissed this claim as speculation based on a misunderstanding of Roman [[milestone]]s found in the area.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Knapp|first=Robert C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YxLyFn_ZQtsC&q=cordoba+temple+janus&pg=PA62|title=Roman Córdoba|publisher=University of California Press|year=1983|isbn=9780520096769|page=62}}</ref>

=== Visigothic church ===
According to traditional accounts, the present-day site of the Cathedral–Mosque of Córdoba was originally a [[Visigoth]]ic Christian [[church (building)|church]] dedicated to [[Vincent of Saragossa|Saint Vincent of Saragossa]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Descola |first=Jean |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofspainvi0000jean/page/112/mode/2up |title=A History of Spain: A Vivid Narration of the Triumphs and Tragedies of the Spanish People |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1963 |pages=113 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Owen |first=Weldon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_T6DwAAQBAJ&dq=cordoba+saint+vincent+saragossa+mosque&pg=PA28 |title=The Book of Saints: A Day-By-Day Illustrated Encyclopedia |publisher=Weldon Owen International |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-68188-719-7 |language=en}}</ref> which was divided and shared by Christians and Muslims after the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania]].<ref name="christys">{{cite book|author=Ann Christys|chapter=The meaning of topography in Umayyad Cordoba|title=Cities, Texts and Social Networks, 400–1500|editor=Anne E. Lester|publisher=Routledge|year=2017|quote=It is a commonplace of the history of Córdoba that in their early years in the city, the Muslims shared with the Christians the church of S. Vicente, until ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I bought the Christians out and used the site to build the Great Mosque. It was a pivotal moment in the history of Córdoba, which later historians may have emphasised by drawing a parallel between Córdoba and another Umayyad capital, Damascus. The first reference to the Muslims’ sharing the church was by Ibn Idhārī in the fourteenth century, citing the tenth-century historian al-Rāzī. It could be a version of a similar story referring to the Great Mosque in Damascus, which may itself have been written long after the Mosque was built. It is a story that meant something in the tenth-century context, a clear statement of the Muslim appropriation of Visigothic Córdoba.}}</ref><ref name="khoury" /> As the Muslim community grew and this existing space became too small for prayer, the basilica was expanded little by little through piecemeal additions to the building.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Marçais|first=Georges|title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident|publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques|year=1954|location=Paris}}</ref>{{Rp|136}} This sharing arrangement of the site lasted until 785, when the Christian half was purchased by Abd al-Rahman I,<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|136}}<ref name="grove"/> for a hundred thousand dinars.<ref name="pijuan">{{cite web |last= Pijuán |first= Jesús |title= Primitive Mosque of Abderraman I |website= artencordoba.com |date= 21 July 2020|url= https://www.artencordoba.com/en/mosque-cordoba/primitive-mosque-abd-al-rahman-i/ |access-date= Jan 23, 2025 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= }}

</ref> He then demolished the church structure and built the new mosque on its site.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|136}}<ref name=":36">{{cite book |last1= |first1= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3VoBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA41 |title=Muslim and Christian Contact in the Middle Ages: A Reader |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=9781442600669 |editor-last=Rodriguez |editor-first=Jarbel |page=41}}</ref><ref name="grove"/> In return, Abd al-Rahman also allowed the Christians to build or rebuild some churches outside the city walls.<ref name=":36" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":02" />{{Rp|136}} These included churches dedicated to the Christian martyrs Saints Faustus, Januarius, and Marcellus whom they deeply revered.<ref name="CalvertGallichan1907">{{cite book |last1=Calvert |first1=Albert Frederick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GqMMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR42 |title=Cordova, a City of the Moors |last2=Gallichan |first2=Walter Matthew |publisher=J. Lane |year=1907 |edition=Public domain |pages=42 |language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is very old, not clearly reliable, and the names or identities of the rebuilt churches do not appear in any other reliable sources consulted so far, nor in the translation of the original 10th-century account by al-Razi (see Rodriguez 2015 cited above).|date=January 2025}}[[File:Mezquita de Córdoba (10805458433).jpg|thumb|Excavated Late Roman [[mosaic]]s visible under the floor of the Mosque-Cathedral today|left]]The historicity of this narrative has been challenged<ref name="grove">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2009 |title=Cordoba |encyclopedia=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://bridgingcultures-muslimjourneys.org/items/show/263 |editor1=Jonathan M. Bloom |page=507 |quote=The tradition that the first mosque in Córdoba was housed in the Christian monastery of St. Vincent, and that it was said to have been shared with the city’s Christian congregation, has been challenged. It is almost certain, however, that the building that housed the early 8th-century mosque was destroyed by ῾Abd al-Rahman I for the first phase of the present Mezquita (Great Mosque). |editor2=Sheila S. Blair}}</ref> as archaeological evidence is scant and the narrative is not corroborated by contemporary accounts of the events following Abd al-Rahman I's initial arrival in al-Andalus.<ref name="khoury" /> The narrative of the church being transformed into a mosque, which goes back to the tenth-century historian [[Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mūsa al-Rāzī|Al-Razi]], echoed similar narratives of the Islamic conquest of [[Syria (region)|Syria]], in particular the story of building the [[Umayyad Mosque]] in [[Damascus]].<ref name="christys" /><ref name="khoury">{{cite journal|journal=Muqarnas|title=The Meaning of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in the Tenth Century |last1=Khoury|first1=Nuha N. N.|volume=13|pages=80–98|year=1996|quote=A myth that associates the mosque's site with the church of Saint Vincent acts as an intermediary step in the transformation of the mosque into a monument of dynastic conquest [...] On the authority of the tenth-century al-Razi, later medieval historians assert that the original founders of the Cordoba mosque shared the church of Saint Vincent with the city's Christian population [...] The account posits a parallel with two earlier Islamic paradigms [...] However, the church of Saint Vincent is neither archaelogically attested as the major edifice mentioned by the historians [...] nor specifically by name in accounts of the events following Abd al-Rahman I's initial arrival in al-Andalus. Rather, the anonymous tenth-century Akhbar Majmu'a on the history of al-Andalus mentions ''a'' church, 'the site of the present-day Friday mosque'|jstor=1523253|doi=10.2307/1523253}}</ref> For medieval Muslim historians, these parallels served to highlight a dynastic Umayyad conquest of Spain and appropriation of Visigothic Córdoba.<ref name="christys" /><ref name="khoury" /> Another tenth-century source mentions a church that stood at the site of the mosque without giving further details.<ref name="khoury" /> An archaeological exhibit in the mosque–cathedral of Cordoba today displays fragments of a [[Late antiquity|Late Roman]]<ref name=":32" /> or Visigothic building, emphasizing an originally Christian nature of the complex.<ref name=":332" /><ref name="calderwood" /> The "stratigraphy" of the site is complicated and made more so by the impact of contemporary political debates about cultural identity in Spain.<ref name=":332">{{cite book |author=D. Fairchild Ruggles |author-link=D. Fairchild Ruggles |year=2010 |chapter=The Stratigraphy of Forgetting |editor=Helaine Silverman |title=Contested Cultural Heritage: Religion, Nationalism, Erasure, and Exclusion in a Global World |publisher=Springer  |pages=51–67|isbn=9781441973054 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HCM93pyDhMEC&pg=PA63}}</ref>

According to Susana Calvo Capilla, a specialist on the history of the mosque–cathedral, although remains of multiple church-like buildings have been located on the territory of the mosque–cathedral complex, no clear archaeological evidence has been found of where either the church of St. Vincent or the first mosque were located on the site, and the latter may have been a newly constructed building. The evidence suggests that it may have been the grounds of an episcopal complex rather than a particular church which were initially divided between Muslims and Christians.<ref name="calderwood">{{cite news|author1=Eric Calderwood|title=The Reconquista of the Mosque of Córdoba|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/10/the-reconquista-of-the-mosque-of-cordoba-spain-catholic-church-islam/|access-date=29 December 2015|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=10 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Susana Calvo Capilla|title=Las primeras mezquitas de al-Andalus a través de las fuentes árabes|journal=Al-Qantara|volume=28|number=1|year=2007|pages=169–170|doi=10.3989/alqantara.2007.v28.i1.34|doi-access=free}}</ref> Pedro Marfil, an archeologist at the [[University of Córdoba (Spain)|University of Cordoba]], has argued for the existence of such a complex – including a Christian [[basilica]] – on this site by interpreting the existing archeological remains.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marfil|first=Pedro|title=Visigodos y omeyas: un debate entre la Antigüedad tardía y la Alta Edad Media|publisher=Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)|year=2001|editor-last=Caballero|editor-first=Luis|location=Madrid|pages=117–141|chapter=Córdoba de Teodosio a Abd al-Rahmán III|editor-last2=Mateos|editor-first2=Pedro}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marfil|first=Pedro|date=2007|title=La basílica de San Vicente en la catedral de Córdoba|journal=Arqueología, Arte e Historia|volume=14|pages=33–45}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marfil|first=Pedro|date=2006|title=La sede episcopal de San Vicente en la santa iglesia Catedral de Córdoba|journal=Al-Mulk|volume=6|pages=35–58}}</ref> [[D. Fairchild Ruggles]], a scholar of Islamic art, considers previous archeological work to be a confirmation of the former church's existence.<ref name=":332" />{{Rp|page=56}} This theory has been opposed by Fernando Arce-Sainz, another archeologist, who states that none of the numerous archeological investigations in modern times have turned up remains of Christian [[iconography]], a cemetery, or other evidence that would support the existence of a church.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Arce-Sainz|first=Fernando|date=2015|title=La supuesta basílica de San Vicente en Córdoba: de mito histórico a obstinación historiográfica|journal=Al-Qantara|volume=36|issue=1|pages=11–44|doi=10.3989/alqantara.2015.001|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Córdoba|first=Guy Hedgecoe in|title=Córdoba's Mosque-Cathedral dispute puts Spanish identity at centre stage|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/c%C3%B3rdoba-s-mosque-cathedral-dispute-puts-spanish-identity-at-centre-stage-1.4195391|access-date=2020-12-11|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref> [[Art history|Art historian]] Rose Walker, in an overview of [[Late antiquity|late antique]] and early medieval art in Spain, has likewise criticized Marfil's view as relying on personal interpretation.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book|last=Walker|first=Rose|title=Art in Spain and Portugal from the Romans to the Early Middle Ages: Routes and Myths|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|year=2016|pages=125–126|quote=Pedro Marfil has set out the archaeological arguments for earlier ecclesiastical occupation of the site of the Great Mosque in the sixth century, but these involve a considerable amount of interpretation that he clearly presents as his opinion. The mosaics discovered at basement level may belong to a late Roman complex. The bishops of Córdoba at that period would have had a residence, a cathedral, and other churches, but it remains unclear whether these were on the site of the Mosque, used a converted domus as at Barcelona, or reoccupied part or all of the complex at Cercadilla or other administrative buildings. Fragments of sculpture survive again without any reliable provenance and here without any documentary context. Displayed in the new Museo Arqueológico de Córdoba or in the Cathedral Mosque, pieces of liturgical furniture include altar supports and niche plaques but, unlike the material from Mérida, they do not form a coherent group.}}</ref> More recently, archeologists Alberto León and Raimundo Ortiz Urbano have affirmed the hypothesis of a large episcopal complex by analyzing both old and new archeological findings at the site,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=León Muñoz |first1=Alberto |title=Cambio de Era. Córdoba y el Mediterráneo Cristiano |last2=Ortiz Urbano |first2=Raimundo Francisco |publisher=Ayuntamiento de Córdoba |year=2023 |isbn=978-84-09-47405-9 |pages=169–172 |language=es |chapter=El complejo episcopal de Córdoba: nuevos datos arqueológicos |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/96883386}}</ref> while María de los Ángeles Utrero Agudo and Alejandro Villa del Castillo argue that evidence so far does not allow for the identification of former ecclesiastical structures on the site.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Utrero Agudo |first1=María de los Ángeles |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u-yyEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 |title=A Companion to Late Antique and Medieval Islamic Cordoba: Capital of Roman Baetica and Caliphate of al-Andalus |last2=Villa del Castillo |first2=Alejandro |publisher=Brill |year=2023 |isbn=978-90-04-52415-6 |editor-last=Monferrer-Sala |editor-first=Juan Pedro |pages=115–117 |language=en |chapter=Christianity: The Architecture of a New Faith (4th–7th Century) |editor-last2=Monterroso-Checa |editor-first2=Antonio}}</ref>

Regardless of what structures may have existed on the site, however, it is almost certain that the building which housed the city's first mosque was destroyed to build [[Abd al-Rahman I|Abd ar-Rahman I]]'s Great Mosque and that it had little relation to the latter's form.<ref name="grove" /><ref name=":02" />{{Rp|136}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bloom|first=Jonathan M.|title=Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700–1800|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2020|isbn=9780300218701|page=19|quote=Whatever earlier buildings have stood on the site – visitors today can still see mosaic floors some distance beneath the current floor – their orientation and plans have little to do with the mosque.}}</ref>

=== Construction of the mosque ===
[[File:Colonnes_de_la_Mezquita_(8281472877).jpg|thumb|The columns and [[two-tiered arch]]es in the original section of the mosque building. The columns and capitals are [[spolia]] from earlier structures.]]
The Great Mosque was built in the context of the new [[Emirate of Córdoba|Umayyad Emirate]] in Al-Andalus which Abd ar-Rahman I founded in 756. Abd ar-Rahman was a fugitive and one of the last remaining members of the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad royal family]] which had previously ruled the first hereditary [[caliphate]] based in Damascus, Syria. This [[Umayyad Caliphate]] was overthrown during the [[Abbasid Revolution]] in 750 and the ruling family were nearly all killed or executed in the process. Abd ar-Rahman survived by fleeing to [[North Africa]] and, after securing political and military support, took control of the Muslim administration in the Iberian Peninsula from its governor, [[Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri]]. Cordoba was already the [[Capital city|capital]] of the Muslim province and Abd ar-Rahman continued to use it as the capital of his independent [[emirate]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Hugh|title=Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus|publisher=Routledge|year=1996|isbn=9781317870418}}</ref><ref name=":1" />  

Construction of the mosque began in 785–786 (169 [[Hijri year|AH]]) and finished a year later in 786–787 (170 AH).<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|136}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Barrucand|first1=Marianne|title=Moorish architecture in Andalusia|last2=Bednorz|first2=Achim|publisher=Taschen|year=1992|isbn=3822896322}}</ref>{{Rp|40}}<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Dodds |first=Jerrilynn D. |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain |title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1992 |isbn=0870996371 |editor-last=Dodds |editor-first=Jerrilynn D. |location=New York |pages=11–26 |language=en |chapter=The Great Mosque of Córdoba}}</ref>{{Rp|12}} This relatively short period of construction was aided by the [[Spolia|reuse]] of existing Roman and Visigothic materials in the area, especially [[column]]s and [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=40}} Syrian ([[Umayyad architecture|Umayyad]]), [[Visigothic art and architecture|Visigothic]], and [[Ancient Roman architecture|Roman]] influences have been noted in the building's design, but the architect is not known. The craftsmen working on the project probably included local Iberians as well as people of Syrian origin. According to tradition and historical written sources, Abd ar-Rahman involved himself personally and heavily in the project, but the extent of his personal influence in the mosque's design is debated.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|44}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRHbDwAAQBAJ |title=Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700–1800 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |isbn=9780300218701}}</ref>{{Rp|20}}<ref name="CalvertGallichan1907" /> 

==== Original layout ====
The original mosque had a roughly square floor plan measuring 74 or 79 meters per side, equally divided between a [[hypostyle]] prayer hall to the south and an open courtyard (''[[sahn]]'') to the north.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|40}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=19}} As the mosque was built on a sloping site, a large amount of fill would have been necessary to create a level ground on which to build.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=19}} The outer walls were reinforced with large buttresses, which are still visible on the exterior today.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|40}}The original mosque's most famous architectural innovation, which was preserved and repeated in all subsequent Muslim-era expansions, was its rows of [[two-tiered arch]]es in the hypostyle hall.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=40–42}}<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=20–21, 69}}

The mosque's original ''[[mihrab]]'' (niche in the far wall symbolizing the [[Qibla|direction of prayer]]) no longer exists today but its probable remains were found during archeological excavations between 1932 and 1936. The remains showed that the mihrab's upper part was covered with a shell-shaped hood similar to the later mihrab.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|20}}

[[File:Puerta de San Esteban, Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba.jpg|thumb|''Bab al-Wuzara'' ("Viziers' Gate", today the ''Puerta de San Esteban''), one of the oldest surviving gates of the mosque. Its decoration dates from 855.]]
The mosque originally had four entrances: one was in the center of the north wall of the courtyard (aligned with the mihrab to the south), two more were in the west and east walls of the courtyard, and a fourth one was in the middle of the west wall of the prayer hall. The latter was known as ''Bab al-Wuzara''' (the "[[Vizier]]s' Gate", today known as ''Puerta de San Esteban'') and was most likely the entrance used by the [[emir]] and state officials who worked in the palace directly across the street.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|40}}

The courtyard of the mosque was planted with trees as early as the 9th century, according to written sources cited by the 11th century [[Faqīh|jurist]] Ibn Sahl. Although the species of tree is not known, the fact that these were fruit trees is attested in Ibn Sahl, who was consulted as to whether such a garden was forbidden and, if not forbidden, whether it was permitted to eat from it.<ref name=":34">{{Cite book |last=Ruggles |first=D. Fairchild |title=Islamic gardens and landscapes |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8122-0728-6 |location=Philadelphia |pages= |language=en |oclc=811411235}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=92–93}} That the trees remained in the courtyard is demonstrated by two seals of the City of Cordoba, one in 1262 and the other in 1445, both of which show the mosque (which by then had been converted to a cathedral) with tall palm trees within its walls.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ruggles|first=D. F.|title=Rivers of Paradise: Water in Islamic Art and Culture|publisher=Yale University Press|others=Sheila Blair, Jonathan Bloom, Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art and Culture|year=2009|isbn=978-0-300-15899-1|location=New Haven|pages=90–93|chapter=From the Heavens and Hills: The Flow of Water to the Fruited Trees and Ablution Fountains in the Great Mosque of Cordoba|oclc=317471939}}</ref> This evidence makes the Cordoba mosque the earliest one where trees are known to have been planted in the courtyard.<ref name=":34" />{{Rp|page=90}}

==== ''Qibla'' alignment ====
Mosques were normally aligned with the ''[[qibla]]'' (the direction of prayer), which is theoretically the direction of [[Mecca]]. From Cordoba, Mecca is to the east-southeast, but the Great Mosque of Cordoba is instead oriented more towards the south.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Bonine|first=Michael E.|date=1990|title=The Sacred Direction and City Structure: A Preliminary Analysis of the Islamic Cities of Morocco|journal=Muqarnas|volume=7|pages=50–72|doi=10.2307/1523121|jstor=1523121}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=King|first=David A.|date=1995|title=The Orientation of Medieval Islamic Religious Architecture and Cities|journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy|volume=26|issue=3|pages=253–274|doi=10.1177/002182869502600305|bibcode=1995JHA....26..253K |s2cid=117528323}}</ref> This orientation, which doesn't match that of modern mosques, reflects the pre-existing street alignment of Roman Cordoba.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=King |first=David A. |date=2018 |title=The enigmatic orientation of the Great Mosque of Córdoba |url=https://raco.cat/index.php/Suhayl/article/view/355091 |journal=Suhayl. International Journal for the History of the Exact and Natural Sciences in Islamic Civilisation |pages=33–111 |issn=2013-620X}}</ref><ref name=":1" />{{Rp|21}}

It is also due to historical differences in opinion about the appropriate direction of the ''qibla'' in far western Islamic lands like al-Andalus and Morocco. In this early period, many Muslims in the region preferred a tradition that existed in the western Islamic world (the [[Maghreb]] and al-Andalus) according to which the qibla should be oriented towards the south instead of pointing towards the shortest distance to Mecca.<ref name=":23">{{Cite book|last=Bennison|first=Amira K.|title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2016}}</ref>{{Rp|307}} This was based on a saying (''[[hadith]]'') of [[Muhammad]] which stated that "What is between the east and west is a qibla", which thus legitimized southern alignments.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Wilbaux|first=Quentin|title=La médina de Marrakech: Formation des espaces urbains d'une ancienne capitale du Maroc|publisher=L'Harmattan|year=2001|isbn=2747523888|location=Paris}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last=Salmon|first=Xavier|title=Maroc Almoravide et Almohade: Architecture et décors au temps des conquérants, 1055–1269|publisher=LienArt|year=2018|location=Paris}}</ref>

This practice may also have sought to emulate the orientation of the walls of the rectangular ''[[Kaaba]]'' building inside the [[Great Mosque of Mecca]], based on another tradition which considered the different sides of the Kaaba as being associated with different parts of the Muslim world. In this tradition the northwest face of the Kaaba was associated with al-Andalus and, accordingly, the Great Mosque of Cordoba was oriented towards the southeast as if facing the Kaaba's northwestern façade, with its main axis parallel to the main axis of the Kaaba structure (which was oriented from southeast to northwest).<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" />

Although later mosques in Al-Andalus did have more eastern-facing orientations (e.g. the Mosque of [[Madinat al-Zahra]] in the 10th century), later expansions of the Great Mosque did not attempt to modify its original alignment.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|128–129}}

=== Expansions of the mosque ===
[[File:Plano de la Mezquita de Córdoba (revised with labels and dates).jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Floor plan of the expanded mosque, with each major historical phase of expansion labelled for the ruler who commissioned it and the documented starting date (which sometimes varies depending on the sources)]]

==== First additions ====
In 793 Abd ar-Rahman I's son and successor, [[Hisham I of Córdoba|Hisham I]], added to the mosque a ''ṣawma'a'', a shelter for the [[muezzin]] on top of the outer wall, as the mosque did not yet have a minaret (a feature which was not yet standard in early mosques).<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|21}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=45}}

The mosque was significantly expanded by [[Abd ar-Rahman II]] (r. 822–852) sometime between the years 833 and 848.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|21}}{{efn|Some authors cite a specific year for the expansion. [[Jerrilynn Dodds|Jerilynn Dodds]] cites the year 836<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|15}} while Susana Calvo Capilla gives the year as 848.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Calvo Capilla |first=Susana |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2019 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=Córdoba, architecture |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref>}} This expansion preserved and repeated the original design while extending the prayer hall eight [[Bay (architecture)|bays]] to the south (i.e. the length of eight arches).<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|15}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=45}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=21}} This made the prayer hall 64 metres long from front to back.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|45}} [[File:Capitel M.A.N. 01.JPG|thumb|Marble capital from the time of [[Abd ar-Rahman II]] (9th century), probably made for his expansion of the mosque, now kept at the [[National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)|National Archaeological Museum]] in Madrid. The Arabic inscription translated as: "''In the name of God; blessing for the amir 'Abd ar-Rahman, son of al-Hakam; may God honour him.''"<ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain |title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1992 |isbn=0870996371 |editor-last=Dodds |editor-first=Jerrilynn D. |location=New York |pages= |chapter=}}</ref>{{Rp||page=241}}|left]]

During this expansion, the builders began to commission new marble capitals for the columns instead of just re-using ancient ones.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|21}} These new capitals were imitations of the [[Corinthian order|Corinthian style]] but still differed slightly from classical models, thus hinting at the future evolution of architectural sculpture in al-Andalus.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=45}}<ref name=":42" />{{Rp||page=241}} One probable example of these capitals is now preserved at the [[National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)|National Archaeological Museum]] in Madrid and features an Arabic inscription in an archaic [[Kufic Script|Kufic script]] that offers blessings on Abd ar-Rahman II.<ref name=":42" />{{Rp||page=241}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|21}} The expansion work may have been unfinished when Abd ar-Rahman II died in 852 and it appears to have been completed instead by his son and successor, [[Muhammad I of Córdoba|Muhammad I]] (r. 852–886).<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|15}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|21}}

Muhammad I carried out various other works on the mosque and is reported to have created a ''[[Maqsurah|maqsura]]'' (a prayer space reserved for the ruler).<ref name=":4" />{{Rp||pages=15–16}} In 855 he also restored the ''Bab al-Wuzara''' gate (today's ''Puerta de San Esteban''). The decoration of this gate, which thus likely dates from this time, is often noted as an important prototype of later Moorish gateways.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":4" />{{Rp|16}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|43}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|21}} Muhammad's son, [[Al-Mundhir of Córdoba|Al-Mundhir]] (r. 886–888), in turn added a [[treasury]] to the mosque.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|16}} Al-Mundhir's son, [[Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi|Abdallah]] (r. 888–912), built the mosque's first elevated passage, known as a ''sabat,'' which connected the mosque directly with the [[Alcázar of the Caliphs (Córdoba)|Umayyad palace]] across the street. This passage allowed the ruler thenceforth to enter the mosque privately, where he would remain unseen behind the screen of the ''maqsura'', thus separating him from the general public during prayer.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|16}} New versions of this bridge would later be rebuilt during the mosque's subsequent expansions.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|18}}

==== Expansion of Abd ar-Rahman III ====
[[File:Cordoba_8390_(18679387532).jpg|thumb|Abd ar-Rahman III also expanded the courtyard and probably added a gallery around the edges. (The current gallery was rebuilt by architect Hernán Ruiz I in the 16th century.<ref name=":17">{{Cite web|title=Patio de los Naranjos|url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/el-edificio/patio-de-los-naranjos/|access-date=2020-12-07|website=Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref>)]]
In the 10th century Abd ar-Rahman III (r. 912–961) declared a new [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Caliphate in al-Andalus]] and inaugurated the height of Andalusi power in the region. As part of his various construction projects, he reworked and enlarged the courtyard of the Great Mosque and built its first true minaret (a tower from which the [[Adhan|call to prayer]] was issued) starting in 951–952.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|61–63}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|71}} The new works, including the minaret, were completed in 958, as recorded by a surviving inscription on a marble plaque that includes the name of Abd ar-Rahman III as well as the names of the master builder and the supervisor of works.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|62}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|71}}

The minaret was 47 meters high and had a square base measuring 8.5 meters per side.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|62}} Scholar [[Jonathan Bloom]] suggests that Abd ar-Rahman III's construction of the minaret – along with his sponsoring of other minarets around the same time in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], Morocco – was partly intended as a visual symbol of his growing authority as caliph and may have also been aimed at defying the rival [[Fatimid Caliphate]] to the east, which eschewed such structures.<ref name=":28">{{Cite book|last=Bloom|first=Jonathan|title=Minaret: Symbol of Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1989|isbn=9780197280133}}</ref>{{Rp|106–109}}

Abd ar-Rahman III also reinforced the northern wall of the courtyard by adding another "façade" in front of the old one on the courtyard side.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|71}} Historical accounts differ on whether the completed courtyard had a surrounding gallery or portico (as seen today and as was common in the courtyards of other mosques).<ref name=":17" /> Many modern scholars affirm that the courtyard was provided with an enveloping gallery at this time and that its design involved an [[Alternation of supports|alternation]] between [[Pier (architecture)|piers]] and columns (similar to its current appearance).<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|73}}<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|17–18}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|61}}

==== Expansion of al-Hakam II ====
[[File:Mezquita de Córdoba (28890229187).jpg|left|thumb|View of the nave leading towards the ''[[mihrab]]'', in the extension commissioned by al-[[Al-Hakam II|Hakam II]] in 961 ]]
Abd ar-Rahman III's son and successor, al-Hakam II (r. 961–976), was a cultured man who was involved in his father's architectural projects. During his own reign, starting in 961, he further expanded the mosque's prayer hall. The hall was extended 45 meters to the south by adding 12 more bays (arches), again repeating the [[two-tiered arch]]es of the original design.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|69}} This expansion is responsible for some of the mosque's most significant architectural flourishes and innovations.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|73–85}}<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|18–23}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|69–77}}

At the beginning of al-Hakam's extension, the central "nave" of the mosque was highlighted with an elaborate ribbed dome (now part of the ''Capilla da Villaviciosa''). More famously, a rectangular ''maqsura'' area around the mosque's new mihrab was distinguished by a set of unique [[Interlace (art)|interlacing]] [[multifoil arch]]es. The rectangular area within this, in front of the mihrab, was covered by three more decorative ribbed [[dome]]s. The domes and the new mihrab niche were finished in November or December 965. An inscription records the names of four of its craftsmen, who also worked at the Reception Hall (''Salon Rico'') of Madinat al-Zahra.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|73–76}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|84}}

[[File:Cordoba Cathedral 2024 - Maqsura.jpg|thumb|The ''mihrab'']]
Soon after this date both the middle dome of the ''maqsura'' and the wall surfaces around the mihrab were covered in rich [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]]-influenced gold [[Byzantine mosaics|mosaics]]. According to traditional accounts like that of [[Ibn 'Idhari]], al-Hakam II had written to the [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperor]] (initially [[Nikephoros II Phokas]]) in [[Constantinople]] requesting that he send him expert [[mosaic]]ists for the task. The emperor consented and sent him a master craftsman along with about 1600&nbsp;kg of mosaic [[tessera]]e as a gift. The mosaicist trained some of the caliph's own craftsmen, who eventually became skilled enough to do the work on their own. The work was finished by this team in late 970 or early 971.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|84}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|73}} 

Ibn 'Idhari claimed that the decision to add mosaics with Byzantine craftsmen was in imitation of the Umayyad caliph [[al-Walid I]] in the early 7th century, who commissioned the [[Great Mosque of Damascus]] with mosaic decoration that was also reportedly accomplished with Byzantine help.<ref name=":4" />{{Reference page|page=22}}<ref name=":37">{{Cite book |last=Simonishvili |first=Nino |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=7e7NEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT412#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Medieval Mediterranean between Islam and Christianity: Crosspollinations in Art, Architecture, and Material Culture |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |year=2025 |isbn=978-1-64903-336-9 |editor-last=Giosa |editor-first=Sami Luigi De |language=en |chapter=The Syncretism of Regal Images in Medieval Georgia: The Sculpted Program of the Church of St. John the Baptist of Oshki (936–76) |editor-last2=Vryzidis |editor-first2=Nikolaos}}</ref> Mosaic decoration was also a characteristic of other Umayyad constructions of that era in the [[Levant]] – such as the [[Dome of the Rock]], the [[Prophet's Mosque]], and the [[al-Aqsa Mosque]] – but was not previously known in al-Andalus.<ref name=":38">{{Cite book |last=Safran |first=Janina M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2n-TErluCqQC&pg=PA66 |title=The Second Umayyad Caliphate: The Articulation of Caliphal Legitimacy in Al-Andalus |date=2000 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-932885-24-1 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=66 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":37" /> Some scholars have interpreted al-Hakam's renovations as an attempt to publicly associate the new Umayyad caliphate in al-Andalus with the former Umayyad caliphs in Syria, thus further strengthening his legitimacy and challenging that of the contemporary [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] and [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] caliphs.<ref name=":38" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Glaire D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fR02EQAAQBAJ&pg=PA231 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |last2=Pruitt |first2=Jennifer |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |volume= |pages=231 |language=en |chapter=The Three Caliphates, a Comparative Approach |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru |editor-link2=Gülru Necipoğlu}}</ref>

Al-Hakam II's work on the mosque also included the commissioning of a new ''[[minbar]]'' (pulpit) in 965, which took about 5 to 7 years to finish. Unfortunately, the details of its construction and of its chronology are muddled by sometimes contradictory historical sources. Ibn 'Idhari, for example, implies that Al-Hakam had two minbars built in this period, with one of them possibly having been destroyed or replaced.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|last1=Bloom|first1=Jonathan|title=The Minbar from the Kutubiyya Mosque|last2=Toufiq|first2=Ahmed|last3=Carboni|first3=Stefano|last4=Soultanian|first4=Jack|last5=Wilmering|first5=Antoine M.|last6=Minor|first6=Mark D.|last7=Zawacki|first7=Andrew|last8=Hbibi|first8=El Mostafa|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Ediciones El Viso, S.A., Madrid; Ministère des Affaires Culturelles, Royaume du Maroc|year=1998}}</ref>{{Rp|50}} Either way, whichever minbar survived and became associated with the mosque was celebrated by many writers for its craftsmanship. It was made out of precious woods like [[ebony]], [[Buxus|boxwood]], and "scented" woods, and it was [[Inlay|inlaid]] with [[ivory]] and with other coloured woods such as red and yellow [[sandalwood]]. Modern scholars believe the minbar had wheels which allowed it to be rolled in and out of its storage chamber.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|50}}<ref name=":242">{{Cite book |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |pages=534–535 |chapter=Minbar |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref>

==== Expansion of al-Mansur ====
[[File:Great Mosque of Cordoba, interior, 8th - 10th centuries (38) (29721130342).jpg|thumb|Prayer hall in [[Almanzor|al-Mansur]]'s extension (after 987)]]
The mosque's last significant expansion under Muslim rule was ordered by [[Almanzor|Al-Mansur (Almanzor)]], the autocratic vizier of Caliph [[Hisham II]], in 987–988.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|77}}<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|23}} Rather than extending the mosque further south, which would have been impossible due to the proximity of the riverbank, Al-Mansur had the mosque extended laterally towards the east, extending both the courtyard and the prayer hall by 47.76 meters and adding eight naves to the mosque. The new extension covered 8600 square meters and made the mosque the largest in the Muslim world outside of Abbasid Iraq.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|78}}

Once again, the same design of [[two-tiered arch]]es was replicated in the new construction. However, the capitals produced for the hundreds of new columns have a simpler and less detailed design that may reflect the hurry in which they were produced.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|78}}The new eastern wall of the mosque featured ten richly decorated exterior portals similar to the ones on the mosque's western side, although these were heavily restored in the 20th century.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|79}} Al-Mansur also famously looted the bells of the [[Santiago de Compostela Cathedral|Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela]] and reportedly ordered them to be melted down and turned into chandeliers for the mosque, although none of these chandeliers have survived.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|79}}

=== Later Islamic history of the mosque (11th–12th centuries) ===
After the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba at the beginning of the 11th century, no further expansions to the mosque were carried out. Indeed, the collapse of authority had immediate negative consequences for the mosque, which was looted and damaged during the ''[[Fitna of al-Andalus|fitna]]'' (civil conflict) that followed the caliphate's fall (roughly between 1009 and 1030).<ref name=":8" /> Cordoba itself also suffered a decline but remained an important cultural center. Under [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid rule]], the artisan workshops of Cordoba were commissioned to design new richly crafted minbars for the most important mosques of Morocco – most famously the [[Minbar of the Kutubiyya Mosque]] commissioned in 1137 – which were likely inspired by the model of al-Hakam II's minbar in the Great Mosque.<ref name=":242"/>

In 1146 the Christian army of King [[Alfonso VII of León and Castile]] briefly [[Siege of Córdoba (1146)|occupied Cordoba]]. The [[archbishop of Toledo]], [[Raymond de Sauvetât]], accompanied by the king, led a mass inside the mosque to "[[consecration|consecrate]]" the building.<ref name=":7" /> According to Muslim sources, before leaving the city the Christians plundered the mosque, carrying off its chandeliers, the gold and silver [[finial]] of the minaret, and parts of the rich minbar. As a result of both this pillage and the earlier pillage during the ''fitna'', the mosque had lost almost all of its valuable furnishings.<ref name=":8" />

In 1162, after a general period of decline and recurring sieges, the Almohad caliph [[Abd al-Mu'min]] ordered that Cordoba be prepared to become his capital in al-Andalus. As part of this preparation, his two sons and governors, [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf]] and Abu Sa'id, ordered that the city and its monuments be restored. The architect Ahmad ibn Baso (who was later known for his work on the [[Seville Cathedral|Great Mosque of Seville]]) was responsible for carrying out this restoration program.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":23" />{{Rp|315}} It is not known exactly which buildings he restored, but it is almost certain that he restored the Great Mosque.<ref name=":8" /> It is likely that the mosque's ''minbar'' was also restored at this time, since it is known to have survived long afterwards up to the 16th century.<ref name=":8" />

=== ''Reconquista'' and conversion to cathedral (13th century) ===
[[File:Floor plan of Mosque of Córdoba (rotated and labelled).png|thumb|upright=1.25|Floor plan of the cathedral-mosque today, following multiple additions in the Christian era of the building. Most notably, the current ''Capilla Mayor'' (center) was added in the 16th century.]]
In 1236 Córdoba was conquered by King [[Ferdinand III of Castile]] as part of the ''[[Reconquista]]''. Upon the city's conquest the mosque was converted into a Catholic cathedral dedicated to the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]] (''Santa Maria'').<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Ecker|first=Heather|date=2003|title=The Great Mosque of Córdoba in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1523329|journal=Muqarnas|volume=20|pages=113–141|doi=10.1163/22118993-90000041|jstor=1523329}}</ref> The first mass was dedicated here on June 29 of that year.<ref name=":7" /> According to [[Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada|Jiménez de Rada]], Ferdinand III also carried out the symbolic act of returning the former cathedral bells of Santiago de Compostela that were looted by Al-Mansur (and which had been turned into mosque lamps) back to Santiago de Compostela.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lowney|first=Chris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ah4Yb8_fmcC&pg=PP1|title=A Vanished World: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|pages=116|isbn=9780195311914}}</ref>

Despite the conversion, the early Christian history of the building saw only minor alterations being done to its structure, mostly limited to the creation of small [[chapel]]s and the addition of new Christian tombs and furnishings.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":4" />{{Rp|24}} Even the mosque's [[minbar]] was apparently preserved in its original storage chamber, though it is unknown if it was used in any way during this time.<ref name=":8" /> (The minbar has since disappeared, but it still existed in the 16th century, when it was apparently seen by [[Ambrosio de Morales]].<ref name=":8" />)

The cathedral's first [[Altar (Catholic Church)|altar]] was installed in 1236 under the large ribbed dome at the edge of Al-Hakam II's 10th-century extension of the mosque, becoming part of what is today called the Villaviciosa Chapel (''Capilla de Villaviciosa'') and the cathedral's first main chapel (the ''Antigua'' ''Capilla Mayor'').<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|title=Villaviciosa Chapel|url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/el-edificio/capilla-de-villaviciosa/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref> There is no indication that even this space was significantly modified in its structure at this time.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":8" />  The area of the mosque's mihrab and ''maqsura,'' along the south wall, was converted into the Chapel of San Pedro and was reportedly where the [[Sacramental bread|host]] was stored.<ref name=":8" /> What is today the 17th-century Chapel of the Conception (''Capilla de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción''),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Capilla de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción|url=https://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/descubre-el-monumento/capillas/capilla-de-nuestra-senora-de-la-concepcion/|access-date=December 3, 2020|website=mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es}}</ref> located on the west wall near the courtyard, was initially the [[baptistery]] in the 13th century.<ref name=":8" /> These three areas appear to have been the most important focal points of Christian activity in the early cathedral.<ref name=":8" /> The minaret of the mosque was also converted directly into a bell tower for the cathedral, with only cosmetic alterations such as the placement of a cross at its summit.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bell Tower |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/el-edificio/torre-campanario/|access-date=2021-02-10|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":8" />

Notably, during the early period of the cathedral-mosque, the workers charged with maintaining the building (which had suffered from disrepair in previous years) were local Muslims ([[Mudéjar]]s). Some of them were kept on payroll by the church but many of them worked as part of their fulfilment of a "labor tax" on Muslim craftsmen (later extended to Muslims of all professions) which required them to work two days a year on the cathedral building. This tax was imposed by the crown and was unique to the city of Cordoba. It was probably instituted not only to make use of Mudéjar expertise but also to make up for the cathedral chapter's relative poverty, especially vis-à-vis the monumental task of repairing and maintaining such a large building. At the time, Mudéjar craftsmen and carpenters were especially valued across the region and even held monopolies in some [[Kingdom of Castile|Castilian]] cities such as [[Burgos]].<ref name=":8" />

Other chapels were progressively created around the interior periphery of the building over the following centuries, many of them funerary chapels built through private patronage.<ref name=":8" /> The first precisely dated chapel known to be built along the west wall is the Chapel of San Felipe and Santiago, in 1258.<ref name=":8" /> The Chapel of San Clemente was created in the southeast part of the mosque before 1262.<ref name=":8" /> A couple of early Christian features, such as an altar dedicated to San Blas (installed in 1252) and an altar of San Miguel (1255), disappeared in later centuries.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|121}}

=== Early additions (14th–15th centuries) ===
[[File:Córdoba Mezquita Catedral Capilla Real.jpg|thumb|The [[Mudéjar art|Mudéjar-style]] ''Capilla Real'' (Royal Chapel), finished in 1371 and once containing the tombs of [[Ferdinand IV of Castile|Ferdinand IV]] and [[Alfonso XI of Castile|Alfonso XI]]|left]]
The first major addition to the building under Christian patrons is the Royal Chapel (''Capilla Real''), located directly behind the west wall of the Villaviciosa Chapel. It was begun at an uncertain date.<ref name=":24" /> While it is sometimes believed to have been started by [[Alfonso X of Castile|Alfonso X]], Heather Ecker has argued that documentary evidence proves it wasn't begun before the 14th century when [[Constance of Portugal]], wife of Ferdinand IV, made an endowment for the chapel.<ref name=":8" /> It was finished in 1371 by [[Henry II of Castile|Enrique II]], who moved the remains of his father Alfonso XI and grandfather Ferdinand IV here.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite web|title=Royal Chapel |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/el-edificio/capilla-real/|access-date=2020-12-04|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref> (Their remains were later moved in 1736 to the [[Royal Collegiate Church of Saint Hippolytus|Church of San Hipólito]].<ref name=":10" />)

The Royal Chapel was constructed in a lavish [[Mudéjar art|Mudéjar style]] with a ribbed dome very similar to the neighbouring dome of the Villaviciosa Chapel and with surfaces covered in carved stucco decoration typical of [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrid]] architecture at the time.<ref name=":24" /> This prominent use of the Moorish-Mudéjar style for a royal funerary chapel (along with other examples like the Mudéjar [[Alcázar of Seville]]) is interpreted by modern scholars as a desire by the Christian kings to appropriate the prestige of Moorish architecture in the Iberian Peninsula, just as the Mosque of Cordoba was itself a powerful symbol of the former Umayyad Caliphate's political and cultural power which the Castilians were eager to appropriate.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":24" />

[[File:Cordoba Mezquita14 (23278508543).jpg|thumb|The [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] nave of the Villaviciosa Chapel, dating from the late 15th century and the former main chapel of the cathedral]]In the late 15th century a more significant modification was carried out to the Villaviciosa Chapel, where a new nave in Gothic style was created by clearing some of the mosque arches on the east side of the chapel and adding Gothic arches and vaulting.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":24" /> The nave is dated to 1489 and its construction was overseen by Bishop Íñigo Manrique.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":9" /> It originally had a series of Byzantine-Italian style frescoes by Alonso Martinez depicting saints and kings, but only one of these frescoes has been preserved to the present day and is now being kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Cordoba.<ref name=":9" />

=== Major alterations (16th–18th centuries) ===
[[File:Mezquita-Catedral_de_Córdoba_(41081326944).jpg|thumb|The ceilings of the Renaissance nave and transept, completed by Juan de Ochoa in 1607|left]]
The most significant alteration of all, however, was the building of a [[Renaissance]] cathedral nave and transept – forming a new {{ill|Capilla Mayor (Córdoba)|lt=''Capilla Mayor''|es|Capilla_mayor_(Mezquita-catedral_de_Córdoba)}} – in the middle of the expansive mosque structure, starting in 1523.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":24" /><ref name=":4" /> The project, initiated by Bishop Alonso de Manrique,<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|title=Main Chapel, Transept and Choir |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/el-edificio/capilla-mayor-crucero-y-coro/|access-date=2020-12-04|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref> was vigorously opposed by the city council of Cordoba.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":4" /> The cathedral chapter eventually won its case by petitioning [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], king of Castile and [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]], who gave his permission for the project to proceed.<ref name=":4" /> When Charles V later saw the result of the construction he is reputed to have been displeased, however, and is claimed to have commented: "You have built what you or anyone else might have built anywhere; to do so you have destroyed something that was unique in the world."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fletcher |first=Richard A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrMG-LfuU7oC&dq=spain+charles+v+cordoba+%22you+have+destroyed%22&pg=PA3 |title=Moorish Spain |publisher=University of California Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-520-24840-3 |pages=3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Irwin |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pr7fvU0GbR4C&dq=charles+v+cordoba+%22you+have+destroyed%22&pg=PA63 |title=The Alhambra |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-674-01568-5 |page=63 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Maxwell |first=William Stirling |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq4GAAAAQAAJ&dq=charles+v+cordoba+%22you+have+destroyed%22&pg=PA103 |title=Annals of the Artists of Spain |publisher=John Ollivier |year=1848 |location=London |pages=103–104 |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|The exact wording or translation of this quote varies between sources. A common shorter version is: "You have destroyed something unique to build something commonplace!"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brockman |first=Norbert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkSk4euA-TEC&dq=spain+charles+v+cordoba+%22you+have+destroyed%22&pg=PA332 |title=Encyclopedia of Sacred Places |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59884-654-6 |edition=2nd |page=332 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Greenhalgh |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7giwCQAAQBAJ&dq=charles+v+cordoba+destroyed+something+unique&pg=PA309 |title=Marble Past, Monumental Present: Building with Antiquities in the Mediaeval Mediterranean |publisher=Brill |year=2008 |isbn=978-90-474-2414-7 |page=309 |language=en}}</ref>}}

The architect Hernan Ruiz I was put in charge of the design of the new nave and transept. Before his death in 1547<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biografia de Hernán Ruiz|url=https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/r/ruiz_hernan.htm|access-date=2020-12-04|website=www.biografiasyvidas.com}}</ref> he built the choir walls up to the windows and the gothic vaults on the south side.<ref name=":7" /> He also worked on the mosque building's eastern section (the extension added by Al-Mansur) by adding gothic vaulting to the mosque naves in this area.<ref name=":21">{{Cite web|title=Los Hernán Ruiz, saga de arquitectos: Hernán Ruiz I, el Viejo|url=https://www.artencordoba.com/blog/historia-de-cordoba/los-hernan-ruiz-saga-arquitectos-hernan-ruiz-i-viejo/|access-date=2020-12-04|website=Arte en Córdoba|date=15 June 2015|language=es-ES}}</ref> His son, [[Hernán Ruiz the Younger|Hernan Ruiz II "the Younger"]], took over the project after his death. He was responsible for building the transept walls to their full height as well as the buttresses upholding the structure.<ref name=":11" /> After him, the project was entrusted to architect Juan de Ochoa, who completed the project in a [[Mannerism|Mannerist]] style. The final element was the construction of the [[elliptical central dome]] of the transept, built between 1599 and 1607.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":11" />

After the completion of Juan de Ochoa's work, Bishop Diego de Mardones initiated the construction of the main [[altarpiece]] and provided a significant donation himself for the project. The altarpiece was designed in a Mannerist style by Alonso Matías and construction began in 1618. Other artists who were involved in its execution included Sebastián Vidal, Pedro Freile de Guevara, and Antonio Palomino.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":22">{{Cite web|title=Main Altarpiece |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/obras-maestras/retablo-mayor/|access-date=2020-12-04|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref> 
[[File:Cordoba Cathedral 2024 - Tower from the Patio.jpg|thumb|[[Bell tower]] as seen from Court of Oranges; the tower encases the remains of the mosque's former minaret]]
In 1589 a strong storm (or earthquake<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Bell Tower |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/el-edificio/torre-campanario/|access-date=2020-12-03|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref>) caused damage to the former minaret, which was being used as a [[bell tower]], and it was decided to remodel and reinforce the tower.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Belfry Tower of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba|url=https://www.artencordoba.com/en/mosque-cordoba/belfry-tower/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=Arte en Córdoba|date=22 July 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> A design by Hernán Ruiz III (son of Hernán Ruiz II) was chosen, encasing the original minaret structure into a new Renaissance-style bell tower.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /> Some of the upper sections of the minaret were demolished in the process.<ref name=":6" /> Construction began in 1593<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=The history |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/la-historia/|access-date=2020-12-03|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref> but eventually stalled due to resources being spent instead on the construction of the new cathedral nave and transept happening at the same time. Hernán Ruiz III died in 1606 and was unable to see its completion. The construction resumed under architect Juan Sequero de Matilla in 1616 and the tower was finished in 1617.<ref name=":6" />

The new tower had imperfections, however, and required repairs only a few decades later in the mid-17th century. The cathedral hired architect Gaspar de la Peña to fix the problems. He reinforced the tower and modified the initial design of the ''Puerta del Perdón'' ("Door of Forgiveness") which passed through the tower's base. In 1664 Gaspar added a new cupola to the top of the belfry onto which he raised a statue of Saint Raphael made by the sculptors Pedro de la Paz and Bernabé Gómez del Río.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /> In 1727 the tower was damaged by another storm and in 1755 pieces of it (mainly decorative details) were damaged by the [[1755 Lisbon earthquake|1755 Lisbon Earthquake]]. A [[France|French]] architect, Baltasar Dreveton, was charged with restoring and repairing the structure over a period of 8 years.<ref name=":6" />

In March 1748 construction on the choir stalls of the ''Capilla Mayor'' began, with the commission awarded to [[Pedro Duque y Cornejo|Pedro Duque Cornejo]]. It was initially funded with the help of a large bequest by Archdeacon José Díaz de Recalde in 1742.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":25">{{Cite web|title=Choir stalls |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/obras-maestras/silleria-de-coro/|access-date=2020-12-04|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref> Work on the choir stalls finished in 1757, though Duque Cornejo – who had worked on it continuously for nearly a decade – died just two weeks before the finished choir was officially opened.<ref name=":27" />

=== Modern restorations (19th–21st centuries) ===
[[File:Cordoba Cathedral 2024 - Views from Guadalquivir.jpg|thumb|View of the Mosque-Cathedral from the [[Guadalquivir River]]]]In 1816 the original mihrab of the mosque was uncovered from behind the former altar of the old Chapel of San Pedro. Patricio Furriel was responsible for restoring the mihrab's Islamic mosaics, including the portions which had been lost.<ref name=":7" /> Further restoration works concentrating on the former mosque structure were carried out between 1879 and 1923 under the direction of Velázquez Bosco, who among other things dismantled the [[baroque]] elements that had been added to the Villaviciosa Chapel and uncovered the earlier structures there.<ref name=":7" /> During this period, in 1882, the cathedral and mosque structure was declared a [[National monument|National Monument]]. Further research work and archaeological excavations were carried out on the mosque structure and in the Courtyard of the Oranges by Félix Hernández between 1931 and 1936.<ref name=":7" /> More recent scholars have noted that modern restorations since the 19th century have partly focused on "re-islamicizing" (in architectural terms) parts of the Mosque-Cathedral.<ref name=":82" /> This took place in the context of wider conservation efforts in Spain, starting in the 19th century, towards studying and restoring Islamic-era structures.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Stubbs|first1=John H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AIkLY7ZPmUcC&pg=PP1|title=Architectural Conservation in Europe and the Americas|last2=Makaš|first2=Emily G.|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2011|isbn=9780470901113|page=109}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Fairchild Ruggles|first=D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCVzCwAAQBAJ&q=islamic_conservation_spain&pg=PR5|title=Envisioning Islamic Art and Architecture: Essays in Honor of Renata Holod|publisher=Brill|year=2014|isbn=9789004280281|editor-last=Roxburgh|editor-first=David J.|pages=1–21}}</ref><ref name=":1" />{{Rp|272–278}}

The Mosque-Cathedral was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, and in 1994 this status was extended to the entire historic centre of Cordoba.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Historic Centre of Cordoba|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/313/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}</ref> A restoration project began on the bell tower in 1991 and finished in 2014, while the transept and choir of the Renaissance cathedral were also restored between 2006 and 2009.<ref name=":7" /> Further restorations of features like chapels and some of the outer gates have continued to take place up to the late 2010s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Conservation |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/conservacion/|access-date=2020-12-07|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref>

On 8 August 2025, a fire broke out at 9:10 p.m. in a chapel used as a warehouse in the Almanzor extension. The flames reached the Chapel of Expectation, and after the firefighters intervened, the roof of this chapel collapsed under the weight of the water.<ref>[https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-08-09/colapsa-el-techo-de-la-capilla-donde-se-origino-el-incendio-de-la-mezquita.html Colapsa el techo de una capilla de la zona donde se originó el incendio de la Mezquita de Córdoba] {{in lang|es}}</ref>

==Architecture==
The Great Mosque of Córdoba held a place of importance amongst the Islamic community of al-Andalus for centuries. In Córdoba, the Umayyad capital, the Mosque was seen as the heart and central focus of the city.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book |last=Dodds |first=Jerrilynn |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbfORLWv1HkC&pg=PA599 |title=The Legacy of Muslim Spain |publisher=Brill |year=1992 |isbn=978-90-04-09599-1 |editor-last=Jayyusi |editor-first=Salma Khadra |pages=599–603 |language=en |chapter=The Arts of al-Andalus |editor-last2=Marín |editor-first2=Manuela}}</ref> To the people of al-Andalus "the beauty of the mosque was so dazzling that it defied any description."<ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last=Chejne |first=Anwar G. |url= |title=Muslim Spain: Its History and Culture |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-8166-5726-1 |pages=364 |language=en}}</ref>

After all of its historical expansions, the mosque-cathedral covers an area of {{convert|590|x|425|ft}}.<ref name="britannica" /> The building's original floor plan follows the overall form of some of the earliest mosques built from the very [[History of Islam|beginning of Islam]].<ref name=":18" /> Some of its features had precedents in the [[Umayyad Mosque]] of Damascus, which was an important model built before it.<ref name=":35">{{Cite book |last=Ruggles |first=D. F. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W5JxUjfwInoC&pg=PA161 |title=The Literature of Al-Andalus |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-03023-6 |editor-last=Menocal |editor-first=María Rosa |pages= |language=en |chapter=The Great Mosque of Córdoba}}</ref>{{Rp|page=161}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=42}} It had a rectangular prayer hall with aisles arranged perpendicular to the ''qibla'', the direction towards which Muslims pray.<ref name=":35" />{{Rp|page=159}} It has thick outer walls with a somewhat fortress-like appearance. To the north is a spacious courtyard (the former ''sahn''), surrounded by an [[arcaded]] gallery, with gates on the north, west, and east sides, and fountains that replace the former mosque fountains used for [[Wudu|ablutions]]. A bridge or elevated passage (the ''sabat'') once existed on the west side of the mosque which connected the prayer hall directly with the Caliph's palace across the street.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":35" />{{Rp|page=161}} Al-Razi, an Arab writer, speaks of the valuable wine-coloured marble, obtained from the mountains of the district, which was much used in embellishing the naves of the mosque.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

The Christian-era additions (after 1236) included many small chapels throughout the building and various relatively cosmetic changes. The most substantial and visible additions are the [[cruciform]] nave and transept of the ''Capilla Mayor'' (the main chapel where Mass is held today) which were begun in the 16th century and inserted into the middle of the former mosque's prayer hall, as well as the remodelling of the former minaret into a Renaissance-style [[bell tower]].<ref name=":24" />

=== The hypostyle hall ===
[[File:Mezquita-catedral de Córdoba interior 4.jpg|thumb|[[Hypostyle]] prayer hall]]
The mosque-cathedral's [[hypostyle]] hall dates from the original mosque construction and originally served as its main prayer space for Muslims. The main hall of the mosque was used for a variety of purposes. It served as a central prayer hall for personal devotion, for the five daily [[Salah|Muslim prayers]] and the special Friday prayers accompanied by a [[Khutbah|sermon]]. It also would have served as a hall for teaching and for [[Sharia]] law cases during the rule of Abd al-Rahman I and his successors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Read |first=Jan |url= |title=The Moors in Spain and Portugal |publisher=Rowman and Littlefield |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-87471-644-3 |pages=56 |language=en}}</ref>

The hall was large and flat, with timber ceilings held up by rows of [[two-tiered arch]]es resting on columns.<ref name=":18" /> The two-tiered arches consist of a lower tier of horseshoe arches and an upper tier of semi-circular arches.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=20}}These rows of arches divided the original building into 11 aisles or "naves" running from north to south, later increased to 19 by Al-Mansur's expansion, while in turn forming perpendicular aisles running east–west between the columns.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web|last=Sánchez Llorente|first=Margarita|title=Great Mosque of Córdoba|url=http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;isl;es;mon01;1;en|access-date=December 6, 2020|website=Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite web|title=Qantara – Mosque of Córdoba|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=168&lang=en|access-date=2020-12-06|website=www.qantara-med.org}}</ref><ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=18, 20}} The nave that leads to the ''mihrab'' – which was originally the central nave of the mosque until Al-Mansur's lateral expansion of the building altered its symmetry – is slightly wider than the other naves, demonstrating a subtle hierarchy in the mosque's floor plan.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=40}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=20}}

The original mosque had some 120 columns<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=20}} All of the original columns and capitals were [[Spolia|reused]] from earlier Roman and Visigothic buildings, but subsequent expansions (starting with Abd al-Rahman II) saw the incorporation of new Moorish-made capitals that evolved from earlier Roman models.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|44–45}}<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|14}}<ref name=":15" /> The current building has approximately 850 columns made of [[jasper]], [[onyx]], [[marble]], [[granite]] and [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]].<ref name="britannica" />
[[File:Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba (52003090824).jpg|thumb|The [[two-tiered arch]]es of the hypostyle hall]]
The mosque's architectural system of repeating two-tiered arches, with otherwise little surface decoration, is considered one of its most innovative characteristics and has been the subject of much commentary.<ref name=":16" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":15" /><ref name=":1" /> The hypostyle hall has been variously described as resembling a "forest of columns"<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|58}} and having an effect similar to a "hall of mirrors".<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|13}} Scholar [[Jerrilynn Dodds]] has further summarized the visual effect of the hypostyle hall with the following:<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|13}}
<blockquote>
Interest in the mosque's interior is created, then, not by the application of a skin of decoration to a separately conceived building but by the transformation of the morphemes of the architecture itself: the arches and voussoirs. Because we share the belief that architectural components must by definition behave logically, their conversion into agents of chaos fuels a basic subversion of our expectations concerning the nature of architecture. The tensions that grow from these subverted expectations create an intellectual dialogue between building and viewer that will characterize the evolving design of the Great Mosque of Cordoba for over two hundred years.</blockquote>

Much speculation has been offered on the inspiration for the arch design, often focusing on the possible influence of [[Umayyad architecture]] in the Levant, the homeland of Abd ar-Rahman I, where two-tiered arches were used in a simpler form.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=42}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|20}} It is sometimes suggested that the design of the arches was meant to evoke a forest of [[Arecaceae|palm trees]] from Abd ar-Rahman's youth in Syria.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Curta |first1=Florin |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ouTNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT626 |title=Great Events in Religion: An Encyclopedia of Pivotal Events in Religious History |last2=Holt |first2=Andrew |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |year=2016 |isbn=979-8-216-09187-5 |volume=2 |language=en |chapter=The Building of the Great Mosque of Córdoba (784)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Darke |first=Diana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5-MJEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA178 |title=Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-78738-305-0 |pages=178 |language=en}}</ref> The motivation for the two-tiered design may have been more technical: unlike the large spolia columns available in Damascus, the columns available for reuse in Córdoba were not tall enough to raise the ceiling to the desired height on their own, so the addition of a second tier of arches above the first tier was an innovative way to resolve this.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=40–42}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|20}} The precedent of multi-tiered arches was also present in the Iberian Peninsula thanks to remaining [[Roman aqueduct]]s (e.g. the [[Acueducto de los Milagros|Milagros Aqueduct]] at [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]]); therefore, these local influences may have been more significant.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=42}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=20}}

The [[voussoir]]s of the arches alternate between red brick and white stone.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|20}} Colour alternations like this were also common in Umayyad architecture in the Levant and in pre-Islamic architecture on the Iberian Peninsula.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|42}} According to Anwar G. Chejne, the arches were inspired by those in the [[Dome of the Rock]].<ref name=":33" /> Horseshoe arches were known in the Iberian Peninsula in the Visigothic period (e.g. the 7th-century [[Church of San Juan Bautista, Baños de Cerrato|Church of San Juan de Baños]]) and to a lesser extent in [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] regions of the Middle East. The traditional "Moorish" arch in al-Andalus developed into its own distinctive and slightly more sophisticated version.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|43}}<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|163–164}}<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|13–14}}{{Multiple image
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| caption1 = Fragments of the original mosque ceiling (on display in the courtyard today)
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The mosque's original flat wooden ceiling was made of wooden planks and beams with carved and painted decoration.<ref name=":31">{{Cite web|title=CVC. Mezquita de Córdoba|url=https://cvc.cervantes.es/actcult/mezquita_cordoba/fichas/mezquita_c/techumbre.htm|access-date=2021-02-21|website=cvc.cervantes.es}}</ref><ref name=":02" />{{Rp|148–149}}<ref name=":243">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |location= |pages=419–439 |chapter=Woodwork |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref> Preserved fragments of the original ceiling – some of which are now on display in the Courtyard of the Oranges – were discovered in the 19th century and have allowed modern restorers to reconstruct the ceilings of some of the western sections of the mosque according to their original style.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|149}}<ref name=":31" /> The eastern naves of the hall (in al-Mansur's expansion), by contrast, are now covered by high Gothic vaults which were added in the 16th century by Hernan Ruiz I.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|79}}<ref name=":21" /> On the exterior, the building has gabled roofs covered in tiles.

==== Dome of the Villaviciosa Chapel ====
In the nave or aisle of the hypostyle hall which leads to the mihrab, at the spot which marks the beginning of Al-Hakam's 10th-century extension, is a monumental ribbed dome with ornate decoration. The ribs of this dome have a different configuration than those of the domes in front of the mihrab. Their intersection creates a square space in the center with an octagonal scalloped cupola added over this. In total, this intersection of ribs creates 17 vaulted compartments of square or triangular shape, in different sizes, each further decorated with a variety of miniature ribbed domes, star-shaped mini-domes, and scalloped shapes.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=72}}

The space under this dome was surrounded on three sides by elaborate screens of interlacing [[polylobed arch]]es, similar to those of the ''[[Maqsurah|maqsura]]'' to the south but even more intricate. This architectural ensemble apparently marked the transition from the old mosque to Al-Hakam II's expansion, which some scholars see as having a status similar to a "mosque-within-a-mosque".<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|75}}<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|120}}

The dome is now part of the Villaviciosa Chapel and two of the three intersecting arch screens are still present (the western one has disappeared and been replaced by the 15th-century Gothic nave added to the chapel). Both the ribbed dome and the intersecting arches, along with the domes and arches of the ''maqsura'', were influential in subsequent Moorish architecture, re-appearing in simpler but imaginative forms in the small [[Mosque of Cristo de la Luz|Bab al-Mardum Mosque]] in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] and giving rise to other ornamental derivations like the later [[stucco]] domes of the [[Great Mosque of Tlemcen]] and the [[Great Mosque of Taza]].<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=79, 116, 182}}<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|pages=195–197, 271}}
<gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Capilla de Villaviciosa, Mosque of Cordoba, Spain - DSC07112.JPG|The [[interlacing arches]] at the entrance to Al-Hakam II's 10th-century extension (the Villaviciosa Chapel)
File:Bóveda de la Capilla de Villaviciosa (Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba).jpg|The ribbed dome at the entrance Al-Hakam II's 10th-century extension (the Villaviciosa Chapel)
File:Mezquita Villaviciosa dome SW corner DSCF5149.jpg|Details of one of the corners of the dome
</gallery>

==== The ''mihrab'' and the ''maqsura'' ====
[[File:WLM14ES - 17102009 182510 CRDB 1648 - .jpg|thumb|View of the ''maqsura'' arches and the mihrab behind it, with the lateral doors on the right and left|left]]
At the south end of the prayer hall is a richly decorated ''mihrab'' (niche symbolizing the direction of prayer) surrounded by an architecturally defined ''maqsura'' (an area reserved for the emir or caliph during prayer), which date from the expansion of Caliph Al-Hakam II after 965. This ''maqsura'' area covers three [[Bay (architecture)|bays]] along the southern qibla wall in front of the mihrab, and was marked off from the rest of the mosque by an elaborate screen of intersecting horseshoe and polylobed arches; a feature which would go on to be highly influential in the subsequent development of Moorish architecture.<ref name=":02" /> The mihrab opens in the wall at the middle of this ''maqsura'', while two doors flank it on either side. The door on the right, ''Bab al-Sabat'' ("door of the ''sabat"''), gave access to a passage which originally led to the ''sabat'', an elevated passage over the street which connected the mosque to the caliph's palace. The door on the left, ''Bab Bayt al-Mal'' ("door of the treasury"), led to a treasury located behind the qibla wall (now partly occupied by the cathedral's treasury).<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|18}}<ref name="Rosser 2021"/>{{Rp|pages=136, 143}}

The mihrab consists of a horseshoe arch leading to a small heptagonal chamber covered by a shell-shaped cupola above a ring of polylobed [[blind arch]]es and carvings.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=75–76}} This is the earliest known mihrab that consists of an actual room rather than just a niche in the wall.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|18}} Under the horseshoe arch are two pairs of short  marble columns with capitals – each pair featuring one red column and one dark green column – that are believed to have been reused from the mihrab of Abd al-Rahman II's earlier expansion of the mosque.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=|page=75}} The mihrab is, in turn, surrounded by a typical arrangement of radiating arch decoration and a rectangular framing or ''[[alfiz]]'', which is also seen in the design of the earlier western mosque gate of ''Bab al-Wuzara'' (the ''Puerta de San Esteban'' today) and was likely also present in the design of the mosque's first mihrab.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|43}} Above this ''alfiz'' is another decorative [[blind arcade]] of polylobed arches. The lower walls on either side of the mihrab are panelled with marble carved with intricate [[arabesque]] vegetal motifs, while the [[spandrel]]s above the arch are likewise filled with carved arabesques. The voussoirs of the arch, however, as well as the rectangular ''alfiz'' frame and the blind arcade above it, are all filled with gold and glass mosaics. Those in the voussoirs and the blind arcade form vegetal and floral motifs, while those in the ''alfiz'' and in smaller bands at the [[Springer (architecture)|springs]] of the arch contain Arabic inscriptions in Kufic script.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=75–76}}<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" /> The two doors on either side of the mihrab section are also framed by similar, but less elaborate, mosaic decoration.

The three bays of the ''maqsura'' area (the space in front of the mihrab and the spaces in front of the two side doors) are each covered by ornate ribbed domes. The use of intersecting arches in this area also solved the problem of creating additional support to bear the weight and thrust of these domes.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=72}} The domes themselves are built with eight intersecting stone ribs. Rather than meeting in the center of the dome, the ribs intersect one another off-center, forming an eight-pointed star with an octagonal "scalloped" cupola in the center.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=70–73}} The middle dome, in front of the mihrab, is especially elaborate and is also covered by mosaic decoration.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|74}}

Scholars have affirmed that the style of the mosaics in this part of the mosque is heavily influenced by [[Byzantine mosaics]], which corroborates historical accounts of the Caliph requesting expert mosaicists from the Byzantine emperor at the time, who agreed and sent him a master craftsman.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stern|first=Henri|title=Les mosaïques de la Grande Mosquée de Cordoue|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=1976|location=Berlin}}</ref><ref name=":1" />{{Rp|73}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|84}} Scholars have argued that this use of Byzantine mosaics is also part of a general desire – whether conscious or not – by the Cordoban Umayyads to evoke connections to the early Umayyad Caliphate in the Middle East, in particular to the Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, where Byzantine mosaics were a prominent element of the decoration.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|22}}<gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Maqsura de la Mezquita de Córdoba.jpg|View of the intersecting arches in the ''maqsura'' area around the mihrab
File:Mezquita de Cordoba Mihrab.jpg|The mihrab
File:Mezquita marble carving of mihrab DSCF5465.jpg|Carved marble decoration on the lower walls around the mihrab
File:Cordoba Mosque 07.jpg|The mosaics in the voussoirs of the mihrab arch
File:Great Mosque of Cordoba, mihrab area, 10th century (28) (29208542874).jpg|Part of the [[Kufic]] inscriptions in the mosaics of the ''alfiz'' above the mihrab
File:Great Mosque of Cordoba, mihrab area, 10th century (32) (29761847451).jpg|The [[blind arcade]] above the ''alfiz'', with mosaics
File:Cordoba Mosque 16. Mihrab.jpg|Interior of the mihrab and its shell-shaped dome
File:Cordoba Mosque 01.jpg|The middle dome over the ''maqsura'', in front of the mihrab
File:East door of the Maqsura, Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain - DSC07158.JPG|''Bab Bayt al-Mal'', to the left of the mihrab, the door that led to the mosque's treasury
File:Cordoba Mosque 13.jpg|Dome in front of the ''Bab Bayt al-Mal''
File:West door of the Maqsura, Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain - DSC07154.JPG|''Bab al Sabat'', to the right of the mihrab, the door that led to the passage linking with the Caliph's palace
File:Cordoba Mosque 14.jpg|Dome in front of the ''Bab al-Sabat''
</gallery>

===== Arabic inscriptions =====
[[File:Great Mosque of Cordoba, mihrab area, 10th century (25) (29210295663).jpg|thumb|Part of the main Arabic inscription in the ''alfiz'' around the ''mihrab'', executed in gold Kufic characters. It contains excerpts from the Qur'an and a foundation text praising al-Hakam II.]]
The Arabic inscriptions in the decoration around the ''mihrab'' are the first major example of a program of political-religious inscriptions inserted into Andalusi architecture. They contain selected excerpts from the [[Qur'an]] as well as foundation inscriptions praising the patron (Caliph Al-Hakam II) and the people who assisted in the construction project.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|70}}

The largest inscription of the ''alfiz'' (rectangular frame) around the ''mihrab'', executed with mosaics in gold Kufic characters on a dark background, begins with two excerpts from the Qur'an ([[As-Sajdah|''Surah'' 32]]:6 and [[Ghafir|''Surah'' 40]]:65), translated as:{{Blockquote|text=Such is He, the Knower of all things, hidden and open, the Exalted, the Merciful. He is the Living, there is no God but He; call upon Him, giving Him sincere devotion, praise be to God the Lord of the worlds.<ref name="khoury2" />{{Rp|page=87}}|source=|title=}}

This is followed by a text commemorating al-Hakam's expansion:<!-- There is still a bit more to to the inscription text after this apparently, but Khoury 1996 doesn't seem to quote it in full, so another source is needed to obtain the complete text and translation. -->

{{Blockquote|text=Thanks be to God Lord of the worlds who chose the Imam al-Mustansir Billah, 'Abd allah al-Hakam amir al-mu'minin, may God preserve him in righteousness, for this venerable construction and who was his aid in [effecting] his eternal structure, for the goal of making it more spacious for his followers...in fulfillment of his and their wishes, and as an expression of his grace them.<ref name="khoury2" />{{Rp|page=87}}|source=|title=}}
[[File:Great Mosque of Cordoba, mihrab area, 10th century (42) (29550888340).jpg|thumb|Detail of the second, shorter inscription above the ''mihrab'']]
Immediately inside this rectangular inscription frame is a shorter inscription in a horizontal mosaic band above the ''mihrab'', in dark letters against a gold background, which quotes [[Al-Hashr|''Surah'' 59]]:23, translated as:

{{Blockquote|text=God is He, than Whom there is no other god. The Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith; the Preserver of Safety, the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme. Glory be to God! (High is He) above the partners they attribute to Him.<ref name=":35" />{{Rp|page=414}}|source=|title=}}More inscriptions are carved into the stone imposts on either side of the mihrab niche's arch, above the small engaged columns. They include a commemoration of al-Hakam II's command to "set up these two supports of what he has founded upon purity and with sanction from God", along with a portion of [[Al-A'raf|''Surah'' 7]]:43. The "two supports" may be a reference to the columns of the mihrab, but the wider text likely adds a metaphorical and more religious interpretation.<ref name="khoury2" />{{Rp|page=88}}

[[File:Great Mosque of Cordoba, mihrab area, 10th century (11) (29837834005).jpg|thumb|Part of the inscription around the central dome of the ''maqsura'']]
An inscription is also included in the mosaics of the middle dome of the ''maqsura'', in front of the ''mihrab''. It runs around the base of the central octagonal cupola and contains verses from the Qur'an ([[Al-Hajj|''Surah'' 22]]: 77–78).<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|74}} The translation reads:{{Blockquote|text=O ye who believe! Bow down, prostrate yourselves, and adore your Lord; and do good; that ye may prosper. And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and under discipline). He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the culture of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation); that the Apostle may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind!<ref name="Ḥijāba">{{Cite book |last=Rosser-Owen |first=Mariam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2CBzgEACAAJ |title=Articulating the Ḥijāba: Cultural Patronage and Political Legitimacy in Al-Andalus, the Amirid Regency c. 970–1010 AD |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-46913-6 |pages=404–414 |language=en |chapter=Appendix 3A: Qur'ānic Inscriptions inside the Cordoba Mosque}}</ref>{{Rp|page=411}}|source=|title=}}

Nuha N. N. Khoury, a scholar of Islamic architecture, has interpreted this collection of inscriptions in al-Hakam II's expansion of the building as an attempt to present the mosque as a "universal Islamic shrine", similar to the mosques of Mecca and [[Medina]], and to portray Caliph al-Hakam II as the instrument through which God built this shrine. This framed the official history of the Umayyad dynasty in prophetic terms, promoting the idea of the new Umayyad caliphs in Cordoba as having a universal prerogative in the Islamic world.<ref name="khoury2" />{{Rp|page=|pages=88–89}}

=== The courtyard ===
[[File:Great Mosque of Cordoba, open courtyard (3) (29807927286).jpg|thumb|The Courtyard of the Orange Trees today]]
The courtyard is known today as the ''Patio de los Naranjos'' or "Courtyard of the Orange Trees".<ref name=":17" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Courtyard of the Orange trees of Viana Palace, Córdoba|url=https://www.artencordoba.com/en/mosque-cordoba/courtyard-orange-trees/|access-date=2020-12-11|website=Arte en Córdoba|date=22 July 2020|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mezquita {{!}} Córdoba, Spain Attractions|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/andalucia/cordoba/attractions/mezquita/a/poi-sig/1189075/360732|access-date=2020-12-11|website=Lonely Planet|language=en}}</ref> Until the 11th century, the mosque courtyard (also known as a ''[[sahn]]'') was unpaved earth with citrus and palm trees irrigated at first by rainwater cisterns and later by aqueduct. Excavation indicates the trees were planted in a pattern, with surface irrigation channels. The stone channels visible today are not original.<ref name=":34" />{{Rp|page=152}} As in most mosque courtyards, it had fountains or water basins to help Muslims perform ritual ablutions before prayer. The arches that marked the transition from the courtyard to the interior of the prayer hall were originally open and allowed natural light to penetrate the interior, but most of these arches were walled up during the Christian period (after 1236) as chapels were built along the northern edge of the hall.<ref name=":17" /> The courtyard of the original mosque of Abd ar-Rahman I had no surrounding gallery or portico, but it is believed that one was added by Abd ar-Rahman III between 951 and 958.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|73}}<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|17–18}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|61}} The current gallery, however, was rebuilt with a similar design by architect Hernán Ruiz I under Bishop [[Martín Fernández de Angulo]] between 1510 and 1516.<ref name=":17" /> The current layout of the gardens and trees is the result of work carried out under Bishop Francisco Reinoso between 1597 and 1601. Today the courtyard is planted with rows of orange trees, cypresses, and palm trees.<ref name=":17" />

=== Bell tower and former minaret ===
[[File:Puerta de Santa Catalina, Mezquita de Córdoba 003.JPG|thumb|One of the [[Coat of arms|coat-of-arms]] on the ''Puerta de Santa Catalina'' (gate on the east side of the courtyard today) which depicts the minaret tower (serving as a [[bell tower]]) before its reconstruction in 1593]]
Abd al-Rahman III added the mosque's first minaret (tower used by the [[muezzin]] for the call to prayer) in the mid-10th century. The minaret has since disappeared after it was partly demolished and encased in the Renaissance [[bell tower]] that is visible today. It was designed by Hernán Ruiz III and built between 1593 and 1617.<ref name=":6" /> The minaret's original appearance, however, was reconstructed by modern Spanish scholar Félix Hernández Giménez with the help archeological evidence as well as historical texts and representations.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hernández Giménez|first=Félix|title=Alminar de Abd-al-Rahman III en la Mezquita Mayor de Córdoba: genesis y repercusiones|year=1975|publisher=Patronato de la Alhambra|isbn=84-85133-05-6|location=Granada}}</ref> (For example, the two [[Coat of arms|coat-of-arms]] on the present-day cathedral's Puerta de Santa Catalina depict the tower as it appeared before its later reconstruction.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|71}})

[[File:Cordoba minaret model DSCF7268.jpg|thumb|Model of the reconstructed minaret of Abd ar-Rahman III at the [[Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Córdoba|Archeological Museum of Cordoba]]|left]]
The original minaret was 47 meters high and had a square base measuring 8.5 meters per side.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|62}} Like other Andalusi and North African minarets after it, it was composed of a main shaft and a smaller secondary tower or "lantern" (also with a square base) which surmounted it. The lantern tower was in turn surmounted by a dome and topped by a finial in the shape of a metal rod with two golden spheres and one silver sphere (often referred to as "apples") decreasing in size towards the top. The main tower contained two staircases, which were built for the separate ascent and descent of the tower. About half-way up, the stairways were lit by sets of horseshoe-arch windows whose arches were decorated with voussoirs of alternating colours which were in turn surrounded by a rectangular ''alfiz'' frame (similar to the decoration seen around the arches of the mosque's outer gates). On two of the tower's façades there were three of these windows side by side, while on the two other façades the windows were arranged in two pairs. These double pairs or triplets of windows were repeated on the level above. Just below the summit of the main shaft on each façade, above the windows, was a row of nine smaller windows of equivalent shape and decoration. The top edge of the main shaft was crowned with a balustrade of sawtooth-shaped merlons (similar to those commonly found in Morocco). The lantern tower was decorated by another horseshoe archway on each of its four façades, again featuring an arch of alternating voussoirs framed within an ''alfiz''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hernández Giménez|first=Félix|title=El alminar de ʻAbd al-Raḥmān III en la Mezquita Mayor de Cordoba: Genesis y repercusiones|publisher=Patronato de la Alhambra|year=1975|isbn=9788485133055|location=Granada}}</ref><ref name=":1" />{{Rp|62}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|71, 73}}
[[File:Cordoba Cathedral 2024 - Tower from the Alcazar.jpg|thumb|The bell tower today, dating from the late 16th and 17th centuries]]
Construction of a new cathedral bell tower to encase the old minaret began in 1593<ref name=":7" /> and, after some delays, was finished in 1617.<ref name=":6" /> It was designed by architect Hernan Ruiz III (grandson of Hernan Ruiz I), who built the tower up to the bell's level but died before its completion. His plans were followed and completed by Juan Sequero de Matilla.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /> The bell tower is 54 meters tall and is the tallest structure in the city.<ref name=":2" /> It consists of a solid square shaft up to the level of the bells, where [[Venetian window|serliana]]-style openings feature on all four sides. Above this is a lantern structure which in turn is surmounted by a cupola.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /> The dome at the summit is topped by a sculpture of Saint Raphael which was added in 1664 by architect Gaspar de la Peña, who had been hired to perform other repairs and fix structural problems. The sculpture was made by Pedro de la Paz and Bernabé Gómez del Río.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /> Next to the base of the tower is the ''Puerta del Perdón'' ("Door of Forgiveness"), one of the two northern gates of the building.<ref name=":6" />

=== The ''Capilla Mayor'' and cruciform cathedral core ===
[[File:Mezquita (Córdoba, Andalucia, España 2022) (52061345088).jpg|left|thumb|View of the cathedral's roof, with the ''Capilla Mayor'' rising above the rest of the structure]]
The cathedral's main chapel (known from Spanish as the ''Capilla Mayor'') is located at the cruciform nave and transept at the center of the building. This cruciform section was begun in 1523 and finished in 1607.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":24" /> The design was drafted by Hernan Ruiz I, the first architect in charge of the project, and was continued after his death by [[Hernán Ruiz the Younger|Hernan Ruiz II]] (his son) and then by Juan de Ochoa. As a result of this long period and the succession of architects, this cruciform section presents an interesting blend of styles.<ref name=":11" /> The first two architects introduced Gothic elements into the design which are visible in the elaborate tracery design of the stone vaults over the transept arms and above the [[Altar (Catholic Church)|altar]].<ref name=":21" /><ref name=":11" /> Juan de Ochoa finished the structure in a more [[Mannerism|Mannerist]] style typical at the time, finishing the project with an [[elliptical dome]] over the [[Crossing (architecture)|crossing]] and a [[barrel vault]] ceiling – with [[lunette]]s along the side – over the [[Choir (architecture)|choir]] area.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":7" />

The design and decoration of the ensemble includes extensive iconography. The Gothic-style vault over the main altar is carved with images of musical angels, saints, apostles, and an image of Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] (Carlos V), with an image of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] at the center. The many writings spread amongst the images in turn form a long litany to Mary.<ref name=":11" /> The elliptical dome of the crossing rests on four pendentives which are sculpted with images of the four evangelists. On the dome itself, are the images of the eight [[Church Fathers|Fathers of the Church]] along the outer edge and an image of the [[Trinity|Holy Trinity]] at its center, which together are part of a [[Counter-Reformation|Counter-Reformist]] iconographic program.<ref name=":11" /> Over the choir area, the central area of the barrel vault ceiling is occupied by images of the [[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]], [[Acisclus|Saint Acisclus]] and Saint Victoria, while the sides feature images of [[David]], [[Solomon]], [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] and [[Samuel]] along with the [[theological virtues]].<ref name=":11" /><gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Mezquita-catedral de Córdoba interior 13.jpg|The nave of the cruciform core of the cathedral or ''Capilla Mayor'', looking towards the [[Altar (Catholic Church)|altar]]
File:Vault choir cathedral Cordoba.jpg|Details of the Gothic lines and iconographic sculpting over the altar of the ''Capilla Mayor''
File:Bóveda del crucero - Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba.jpg|Elliptical dome over the [[Crossing (architecture)|crossing]]
File:WLM14ES - 16102009 205931 CRDB 1090 - .jpg|One of the arms of the transept
File:Mezquita-catedral de Córdoba interior 20.jpg|Gothic decoration on the ceilings of the transept arms
File:Cordoba Mezquita.jpg|Example of the arches of the former mosque incorporated into the sides of the transept
File:WLM14ES - 16102009 210034 CRDB 1096 - .jpg|The [[choir]] section and ceiling
File:Crucero en la Catedral-Mezquita de Córdoba. (17198276242) (3).jpg|Details of the [[barrel vault]] ceiling over the choir
</gallery>

==== Main altar ====
The [[Altar (Catholic Church)|altar]] of the ''Capilla Mayor'' was begun in 1618 and designed in a Mannerist style by Alonso Matías.<ref name=":7" /> After 1627 the works were taken over by Juan de Aranda Salazar, and the altar was finished in 1653.<ref name=":26">{{Cite web|title=Main Altar of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba|url=https://www.artencordoba.com/en/mosque-cordoba/main-altar-cathedral/|access-date=2020-12-11|website=Arte en Córdoba|date=22 July 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> The sculpting was executed by the artists Sebastián Vidal and Pedro Freile de Guevara. The original paintings of the altar were executed by [[Cristóbal Vela|Cristóbal Vela Cobo]] but they were replaced in 1715 by the current paintings by [[Antonio Palomino]].<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":26" /> The altar consists of three vertical "aisles" flanked by columns with [[Composite order|composite]] [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]]. The central aisle houses the tabernacle (executed by Pedro Freile de Guevara) at its base, while its upper half is occupied by a canvas of the ''Assumption''. The two aisles on the side contain four more canvases depicting four [[Christian martyr|martyrs]]: ''Saint Acisclus'' and ''Saint Victoria'' on the bottom halves and ''[[Pelagius of Córdoba|Saint Pelagius]]'' and ''[[Flora of Córdoba|Saint Flora]]'' in the upper halves. The upper canvases are flanked by sculptures of [[Saint Peter]] and [[Paul the Apostle|Saint Paul]], and the central portion is topped by a [[relief]] sculpture of ''[[God the Father]]''.<ref name=":26" /><ref name=":22" /><gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Cathedral–Mosque of Córdoba (6933169868).jpg|The [[Altar (Catholic Church)|main altar]]
File:Córdoba 2015 10 23 2737 (25613740144).jpg|The [[tabernacle]] (center) and the lower region of the altar
File:Córdoba 2015 10 23 2733 (25613751954).jpg|The upper region of the altar, with the central canvas of the ''[[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]]''
</gallery>

==== Choir stalls ====
The choir stalls, located across from the altar, were crafted from 1748 to 1757 and were executed by [[Pedro Duque y Cornejo|Pedro Duque Cornejo]].<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":25" /><ref name=":27">{{Cite web|title=Choir stalls of the Mosque-Cathedral Córdoba|url=https://www.artencordoba.com/en/mosque-cordoba/choir-stalls-cathedral/|access-date=2020-12-11|website=Arte en Córdoba|date=22 July 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> The ensemble was carved mainly out of [[mahogany]] wood and features a row of 30 upper seats and a row of 23 lower seats, all intricately decorated with carvings, including a series of iconographic scenes. At the centre of the ensemble on the west side is a large episcopal throne, commissioned in 1752, that resembles the design of an altarpiece.<ref name=":25" /> The lower part of the thrones has three seats, but the most significant element is the upper part which features a life-size representation of the ''[[Ascension of Jesus]].<ref name=":25" /><ref name=":27" />'' The last figure which stands above the summit of the ensemble is a sculpture of the [[Raphael (archangel)|Archangel Raphael]].<ref name=":25" /><gallery widths="150">
File:Cordoba Cathedral 2024 - Choir.jpg|The choir
File:Córdoba - Mezquita-Catedral - Interior - 07.jpg|View of the seats on the upperrow
File:Córdoba - Mezquita-Catedral - Interior - 06.jpg|The upper part of the episcopal throne of the choir, featuring a life-size representation of the [[Ascension of Jesus|Ascension]]
</gallery>

===List of chapels===
{{col-float}}
'''West wall, from north to south:'''
* Capilla de San Ambrosio
* Capilla de San Agustín
* Capilla de Nuestra Señora de las Nieves y San Vicente Mártir
* Capilla de los Santos Simón y Judas de la Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba
* Capilla de la Concepción de Salizanes o del Santísimo Sacramento
* Capilla de San Antonio Abad
* Capilla de la Trinidad
* Capilla de San Acacio
* Capilla de San Pedro y San Lorenzo
* Museo de San Vicente

'''South wall, from west to east:'''
* Capilla de San Bartolomé
* Capilla de Santa Teresa
* Capilla de Santa Inés
* Capilla del Sagrario
{{col-float-break}}
'''East wall, from north to south:'''
* Capilla de San Antonio de Padua
* Capilla de San Marcos, Santa Ana y San Juan Bautista
* Capilla de San Mateo y Limpia Concepción de Nuestra Señora
* Capilla de San Juan Bautista
* Capilla de Santa Marina, de San Matías y del Baptisterio
* Capilla de San Nicolás de Bari
* Capilla de la Expectación
* Capilla del Espíritu Santo
* Capilla de la Concepción Antigua
* Capilla de San José
* Capilla de la Natividad de Nuestra Señora
* Capilla de Santa María Magdalena

'''North wall, from west to east:'''
* Capilla de San Eulogio
* Capilla de San Esteban
* Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Mayor Dolor
* Capilla de la Virgen de la Antigua
* Capilla de San Andrés
* Capilla de la Epifanía
* Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Rosario
* Capilla de las Benditas Ánimas del Purgatorio
* Capilla de los Santos Varones
* Capilla de Santa Francisca Romana y Santa Úrsula
{{col-float-end}}

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Capilla de Villaviciosa, Mosque of Cordoba, Spain - DSC07117.JPG|Capilla de Villaviciosa
File:Córdoba (15179244529).jpg|Capilla Sagrario
File:Royal Chapel - La Mezquita - Córdoba (2).JPG|Capilla Real
File:Monstrance - Capilla de Santa Teresa - La Mezquita - Córdoba.JPG|Capilla Teresa
File:Escritura en la Mezquita de Córdoba (España).jpg|Capilla San Clemente
File:Capilla de la Concepción - Mezquita de Córdoba 002.jpg|Capilla de la Concepción
</gallery>

===Doors===

==== Doors of the Islamic period ====
[[File:Bild från Johanna Kempes f. Wallis resa genom Spanien, Portugal och Marocko 18 Mars - 5 Juni 1895 - Hallwylska museet - 103285.tif|left|thumb|Doors on the eastern façade of the Mosque-Cathedral in 1895, prior to 20th-century restorations]]
The ''Puerta de San Esteban'' (formerly the ''Bab al-Wuzara'' in Arabic) is one of the oldest well-preserved and historically significant gateways of Moorish architecture. It was originally the gate by which the Muslim emir and his officials entered the mosque and it presumably existed since the mosque's first construction by Abd ar-Rahman I in the 8th century. However, its decoration was completed by Muhammad I in 855. Centuries of slow deterioration and restoration attempts have erased some elements of its decoration, but major original aspects of it remain. Its historical-architectural significance derives from being the earliest surviving example to display the classic ornamental features of Moorish gateways: a door topped by a horseshoe arch with voussoirs of alternating color, which in turn is framed by a rectangular ''alfiz''.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|165–170}}<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|43}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|21}}

[[File:Mezquita old east gate at exit of treasury DSCF5745.jpg|thumb|Remains of the ''Puerta del Chocolate'' (or ''del Punto'')'','' a former eastern gate of the mosque from Al-Hakam II's 10th-century expansion (prior to Al-Mansur's eastward extension of the building)]]
Many other gates were added over the course of subsequent expansions of the mosque. These later gates have even more elaborate decoration, particularly from the 10th century during Al-Hakam II's expansion (starting in 961), visible today on the western exterior façade of the former prayer hall. Al-Mansur's final expansion of the mosque a few decades later (starting in 987–988), which extended the mosque laterally to the east, copied the design of the earlier gates of Al-Hakam II's expansion.<ref name=":4" /> Al-Mansur's doors are visible on the building's current eastern façade. Some remains of the original eastern doors of Al-Hakam II's expansion, before Al-Mansur's displacement of the eastern wall, are still visible inside the mosque-cathedral today. The best-preserved example is the door popularly known as ''Puerta del Chocolate'' or ''Puerta del Punto'', located next to the southern wall and serving today as the visitors' exit from the cathedral's treasury rooms, which was formerly a door to the mosque's treasury as well.<ref name="Rosser 2021">{{Cite book |last=Rosser-Owen |first=Mariam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2CBzgEACAAJ |title=Articulating the Ḥijāba: Cultural Patronage and Political Legitimacy in Al-Andalus, the Amirid Regency c. 970–1010 AD |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-46913-6 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=|pages=154, 158}}<ref name=":29">{{Cite journal|last=Calvo Capilla|first=Susana|date=2018|title=The Visual Construction of the Umayyad Caliphate in Al-Andalus through the Great Mosque of Cordoba|url=https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/7/3/36|journal=Arts|volume=7|issue=3}}</ref>

Many of the exterior gates have undergone various periods of decay and restoration. The most elaborate gates on the eastern wall today are in large part the work of 20th-century restorations.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|79}} Many of the original Arabic inscriptions on these doors have nonetheless been preserved. Susana Calvo Capilla has noted that many of the inscriptions on the 10th-century gates have [[Eschatology|eschatological]] and [[Proselytism|proselytizing]] connotations, possibly reflecting a conscious rebuttal of [[Heterodoxy|heterodox]] religious currents that the authorities deemed threats at the time. Three of the doors, for example, include Qur'anic verses that deny Christian beliefs on the [[Christology|divinity of Christ]].<ref name=":29" />

==== Doors of the Christian period ====
After the mosque's conversion to a cathedral in 1236, Spanish Christian designs were increasingly added to new or existing gates. The small ''Postigo de la Leche'' ("Door of the Milk") on the west side of the building has Gothic details dating from 1475.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Montealegre|first1=L.|title=8th International Congress on Deterioration and Conservation of Stone|last2=Barrios|first2=J.|last3=Nieto|first3=M.|publisher=Elsevier B.V.|year=1996|isbn=978-0-444-50517-0|editor-last=Rieder|editor-first=Josef|location=Berlin|pages=51–60|chapter=The materials of construction of the west wall of the Mosque of Cordoba (Spain) and their deterioration}}</ref> Among the most notable monumental Christian-era portals are the ''Puerta de las Palmas'', the ''Puerta de Santa Catalina'', and the ''Puerta del Perdón''.<ref name=":30">{{Cite web|title=Noteworthy doors |url=http://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/en/descubre-el-monumento/el-edificio/puertas-destacadas/|access-date=2021-02-16|website= Web Oficial – Mezquita–Catedral de Córdoba|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Cordoba Capital - 225 (30710317785).jpg|thumb|''Puerta de las Palmas'', seen from the Courtyard of the Oranges]]
The ''Puerta de las Palmas'' (Door of the Palms) is the grand ceremonial gate from the Courtyard of the Oranges to the cathedral's interior, built on what was originally a uniform façade of open arches leading to the former mosque's prayer hall. Originally called the ''Arco de Bendiciones'' (Arch of the Blessings), it was the setting for the ceremonial blessing of the royal flag, a ritual which was part of a Spanish monarch's coronation ceremony. Its current form dates from the restoration and remodelling done by Hernán Ruiz I in 1533, who created a [[plateresque]] façade above the doorway. The facade's statues depict the [[Annunciation]] while, unusually, the smaller figures in the lower corners depict mythological creatures.<ref name=":30" />

[[File:Procesión Semana Santa Córdoba.webm|thumb|180px|[[Holy Week]] procession by the door of Santa Catalina]]
The ''Puerta de Santa Catalina'' (Door of Saint Catherine) is the main eastern entrance to the Courtyard of the Oranges. Its name referred to the presence of a nearby Convent of Saint Catherine. Its current appearance dates from the work of Hernán Ruiz II, who took over work on the cathedral in 1547 after the passing of his father (Hernán Ruiz I). The gate has a Renaissance façade on its exterior: the doorway is flanked by two columns and is surmounted by a ''[[Venetian window|serliana]]''-style composition of columns forming three alcoves topped by a curved lintel. Within the three alcoves are the remains of three murals depicting Saint Catherine (''Santa Catalina''), Saint Acisclus (''San Acisclo'') and Saint Victoria (''Santa Victoria'').<ref name=":30" />

The ''Puerta del Perdón'' (Door of Forgiveness) is one of the most ritually important doors of the cathedral, located at the base of the bell tower and directly opposite the ''Puerta de las Palmas''. A gate existed here since the Islamic period; its location is aligned with the mihrab of the mosque and with the central axis of the building before Al-Mansur's expansion.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|61}} Its first reconstruction in the Christian period of the building dates to 1377, but it has been modified several times since, notably by Sebastián Vidal in 1650.<ref name=":30" /> The faded mural paintings inside the blind arches above the outer doorway include a depiction of ''Our Lady of the Assumption'' in the middle, with ''Saint Michel'' and ''Saint Raphael'' on the sides.<ref name=":30" />

==== List of doors ====
West façade, along Calle Torrijos, north to south:
* Postigo de la leche
* Puerta de los Deanes
* Puerta de San Esteban
* Puerta de San Miguel
* Puerta del Espíritu Santo
* Postigo del Palacio
* Puerta de San Ildefonso
* Puerta del Sabat

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Postigo de la Leche.JPG|Postigo de la Leche
File:Puerta de los Deanes de la Mezquita de Córdoba (España).jpg|Puerta de los Deanes
File:Spain Andalusia Cordoba BW 2015-10-27 15-45-14 (cropped and retouched).jpg|Puerta de San Esteban
File:Puerta de San Miguel - Mezquita de Córdoba.jpg|Puerta de San Miguel
File:Cordoba Cathedral 2024 - Portal of the Holy Spirit.jpg|Puerta del Espíritu Santo
File:Postigo del Palacio de la Mezquita de Córdoba.JPG|Postigo del Palacio
File:Puerta de San Ildefonso, Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba.jpg|Puerta de San Ildefonso
File:Puerta del Sabat - Mezquita de Córdoba.JPG|Puerta del Sabat
</gallery>

East façade, along Calle del Magistrado González Francés, north to south:
* Puerta de la Grada Redonda
* Fuente de Santa Catalina
* Puerta de Santa Catalina
* Puerta de San Juan
* Puerta del Baptisterio
* Puerta de San Nicolás
* Puerta de la Concepción Antigua
* Puerta de San José
* Puerta del Sagrario
* Puerta de Jerusalén

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Puerta en la Mezquita de Córdoba.JPG|Puerta de la Grada Redonda
File:Puerta de Santa Catalina (Mezquita de Córdoba).JPG|Puerta de Santa Catalina
File:Puerta de San Juan - Mezquita de Córdoba.jpg|Puerta de San Juan
File:Puerta del Batisterio - Mezquita de Córdoba.jpg|Puerta del Baptisterio
File:Puerta de San Nicolás - Mezquita de Córdoba.jpg|Puerta de San Nicolás
File:Puerta de la Concepción Antigua - Mezquita de Córdoba.jpg|Puerta de la Concepción Antigua
File:Puerta de San José - Mezquita de Córdoba.jpg|Puerta de San José
File:Puerta del Sagrario - Mezquita de Córdoba.jpg|Puerta del Sagrario
File:Puerta_de_Jerusalén_-_Mezquita_de_Córdoba.jpg|Puerta de Jerusalén
</gallery>

North façade, along calle Cardenal Herrero, west to east:
* Puerta del Perdón
* Puerta del Caño Gordo

<gallery mode="packed">
File:2002-10-26 11-15 Andalusien, Lissabon 157 Córdoba, Mezquita.jpg|Puerta del Perdón
File:Puerta del Caño Gordo, Mezquita de Córdoba.JPG|Puerta del Caño Gordo
</gallery>

==2000s Muslim campaigns==
{{Main|Petition for Muslim worship at Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba}}
Muslims across Spain have lobbied the Catholic Church to allow them to pray in the complex, with the Islamic Council of Spain lodging a formal request with the Vatican.<ref name="Sills">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/19/spain | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Ben | last=Sills | title=Cathedral may see return of Muslims | date=19 April 2004}}</ref><ref name="msn">Thomson, ''Muslims ask Pope to OK worship in ex-mosque'', Reuters, (2011), [https://web.archive.org/web/20110628213936/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12023329/ns/world_news-europe/]</ref>  However, Spanish church authorities and the [[Holy See|Vatican]] have opposed this move.<ref name="Fuchs">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/dec/28/spain.catholicism?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Dale | last=Fuchs | title=Pope asked to let Muslims pray in cathedral | date=28 December 2006}}</ref> Muslim prayer has not been always banned outright and there are some cases of token concessions in the past, including [[Saddam Hussein]]'s prayer at the Mihrab in December 1974.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/diario/2006/12/28/sociedad/1167260407_850215.html|website=[[El País]]|title=El obispo de Córdoba rechaza el rezo musulmán en la mezquita|date=28 December 2006|first=Manuel|last=Planelles}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.diariocordoba.com/cordoba-ciudad/2003/03/02/sadam-husein-llevo-rezo-mezquita-39012157.html|website=Diario de Córdoba|title=Sadam Husein llevó su rezo a la Mezquita en un viaje oficial|date=2 March 2003}}</ref>

== Ownership dispute ==
The building was formally registered for the first time by the Córdoba's Cathedral Cabildo in 2006 on the basis of the article 206 of the ''Ley Hipotecaria'' from 1946 (whose constitutionality has been questioned).{{Sfn|Agudo Zamora|2015|pp=4; 17–18}} The diocese never presented a formal title of ownership nor did provide a judicial sentence sanctioning the usurpation on the basis of a long-lasting occupation, with the sole legal argument being that of the building's "consecration" after 1236, as a cross-shaped symbol of ash was reportedly drawn on the floor at the time.{{Sfn|Agudo Zamora|2015|p=8}} Defenders of the ecclesial ownership argue on the basis of continuous and peaceful occupation of the building by the Church whereas defenders of the public ownership argue that the mosque-cathedral never ceased to be a State's property, initially belonging to the Crown of Castile (and henceforth the Spanish State).<ref>{{Cite journal|title=La inmatriculación de la Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba: tutela del patrimonio y relevancia constitucional|first=Miguel|last=Agudo Zamora|doi=10.18543/ed-63(2)-2015pp15-45|volume=63|issue=2|url=https://revista-estudios.revistas.deusto.es/article/view/917/1047|year=2015|journal=Estudios de Deusto|publisher=[[Universidad de Deusto]]|issn=0423-4847|pages=15–45|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|PSOE]]'s [[Isabel Ambrosio]], Mayor of Córdoba from 2015 to 2019, defended a model of public and shared management.<ref>{{cite news |last1=León |first1=José Manuel |title=Ambrosio pone a la Alhambra de ejemplo de gestión compartida para la Mezquita |trans-title=Ambrosio brings up the Alhambra as an example of shared management for the Mezquita|url=https://cadenaser.com/emisora/2018/11/07/radio_cordoba/1541613139_005134.html |access-date=24 February 2021 |publisher=[[Cadena SER]] |date=7 November 2018 |language=Spanish}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Un comité de expertos considera que la Mezquita de Córdoba nunca ha sido propiedad de la Iglesia|trans-title=A committee of experts consider that the Mezquita in Córdoba has never been church property|url=https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20180915/expertos-consideran-mezquita-cordoba-nunca-sido-propiedad-iglesia/1799260.shtml |access-date=24 February 2021 |publisher=[[RTVE]] |date=15 September 2019 |language=Spanish}}</ref> In July 2019, the subsequent mayor of Córdoba, [[José María Bellido]], closed down a commission investigating ownership rights, saying it should be reserved for Catholic worship. He noted, "There are no administrative tasks arising from this commission and I've no intention of reactivating it."<ref>Rose Gamble, "[https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/11937/news-briefing-church-in-the-world News Briefing: Church in the World]" in ''The Tablet'', 1 August 2019, 23</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Edwin Lord Weeks - Interior of a Mosque at Cordova - Walters 37169.jpg|right|thumb|This painting by [[Edwin Lord Weeks]] ({{Circa|1880}}) depicts an old Moor preaching holy war against Christians at the mosque's mihrab. "Despite the painting's illusion of reality, such a jihad, or holy war, would never have been called for in a mosque."<ref>{{cite web |publisher= [[The Walters Art Museum]] |url= http://art.thewalters.org/detail/22767 |title=Interior of a Mosque at Cordova}}</ref> Walters Art Museum]]
By leaving the mosque to coexist with the cathedral, the building is a physical repository of power struggles in Spain.<ref name=":92">{{Cite book |last1=Christian |first1=Kathleen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3K5DwAAQBAJ&q=mosque&pg=PT7 |title=European Art and the Wider World 1350–1550 |last2=Clark |first2=Leah |date=2018-07-01 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-2291-9 |language=en}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2024}} Additionally, it is a showcase of architectural hybridity, representing ideological intersections between Christianity and Islam.<ref name=":92" />{{Page needed|date=December 2024}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=YI |first=Soojeong |date=2024-06-15 |title=Intersecting Sanctuaries: Exploring Cultural Hybridity at C&#x00F3;rdoba's Mosque-Cathedral |url=https://doi.org/10.22679/AVS.2024.9.1.005 |journal=Acta Via Serica |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=139–160 |doi=10.22679/AVS.2024.9.1.005}}</ref>

=== Architectural influence ===
{{Further|Moorish architecture}}
The Great Mosque of Cordoba is a high point of the architecture of al-Andalus and one of the most important monuments of early [[Islamic architecture]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=39}}<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last1=Ettinghausen |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1uWZAzN_VcC&pg=PP1 |title=Islamic Art and Architecture: 650–1250 |last2=Grabar |first2=Oleg |last3=Jenkins-Madina |first3=Marilyn |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780300088670 |edition=2nd}}</ref>{{Rp|page=89}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=45}} It had a major influence on the subsequent architecture of Al-Andalus and of the [[Maghreb]] – what is known as [[Moorish architecture|"Moorish" architecture]] or western Islamic architecture – due to both its architectural innovations and its symbolic importance as the religious heart of the region's historic Cordoban Caliphate.<ref name=":19">{{Cite book |last=Ewert |first=Christian |title=La arquitectura islámica del Islam Occidental |publisher=Lunwerg Editores |year=1995 |editor-last=Guzmán |editor-first=López |location=Madrid |pages=55–68 |chapter=La mezquita de Córdoba: santuario modelo del Occidente islámico}}</ref><ref name="khoury2">{{cite journal |last1=Khoury|first1=Nuha N. N.|year=1996 |title=The Meaning of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in the Tenth Century |journal=Muqarnas |volume=13 |pages=80–98 |doi=10.2307/1523253 |jstor=1523253}}</ref>{{Rp|page=80}}<ref name=":13" />{{Rp|page=101}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=86}}<ref name=":232">{{Cite book |last=Bennison |first=Amira K. |title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9780748646821}}</ref>{{Rp|281–284}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=77}} [[Amira Bennison]], for example, goes on to comment:

{{Blockquote|text=Despite the demise of the Umayyad caliphate and the concomitant decline of Córdoba's political status, its great mosque remained one of the most thoroughly described and lauded Islamic buildings for centuries to come. [[Al-Idrisi]], writing in the Almohad era, devoted almost his entire entry on Córdoba, several pages in all, to describing the great mosque, giving almost forensic detail about its constituent parts. The key elements in this respect were its marble columns, its polygonal ''mihrab'' chamber, its Qur'an and its ''minbar'', all of which went on to have long histories in the Maghrib, appropriated and adapted by the Almoravids and the Almohads in turn.<ref name=":232" />{{Rp|284}}|author=|title=|source=}}

Jonathan Bloom also comments: 
{{Blockquote|The prestige of the Córdoba mosque ensured that in subsequent centuries many of its features would be emulated in one way or another, becoming part of the emerging canon of architectural forms and decoration in the western lands of Islam.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=77}}}}

Among other examples of important precedents, the overall form of the 8th or 9th-century ''Bab al-Wuzara'' gate (''Puerta de San Esteban'' today), with its horseshoe arch, voussoirs of alternating colours, and rectangular ''alfiz'' frame, became one of the most recurring motifs of Islamic architecture in the region.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":13" />{{Rp|page=89}} The minaret commissioned by Abd ar-Rahman III in 951–952 was also highly influential and became the model for later minarets in the Maghreb and al-Andalus.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|61–63}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=73}}<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |title=The minaret |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0748637256 |location=Edinburgh |oclc=856037134}}</ref>{{Rp|page=137}} [[Georges Marçais]] traces the possible origins of some later architectural motifs to the complex arches of Al-Hakam II's expansion, most notably the [[interlacing arches]] of the [[Aljafería]] in [[Zaragoza]] (11th century), the [[Multifoil arch|polylobed arches]] found throughout the region after the 10th century, and the ''[[sebka]]'' motif which became ubiquitous in [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid]], [[Kingdom of Tlemcen|Zayyanid]] and [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrid]] architecture after the Almohad period (12th-13th centuries).<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Marçais |first=Georges |title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident |publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques |year=1954 |isbn= |location=Paris |pages=213, 232–234, 256–258}}</ref> One exception to this legacy of influences was the mosaic decoration of the mosque's 10th-century mihrab, which, although admired, was not emulated by later architects.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=77}}

The ribbed domes of al-Hakam II's expansion are also a curious innovation whose origins have been debated, but the appearance of similar (though simpler) domes in the small [[Bab al-Mardum Mosque]] in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] demonstrates that this feature spread into architectural designs beyond Cordoba.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=|pages=77, 79}} The domes also served as inspiration for the intricate ribbed dome made of plaster in the [[Great Mosque of Tlemcen]] (present-day [[Algeria]]), built by the Almoravids in the early 12th century, which in turn probably inspired similar domes built by the Marinids in the [[Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid]] and the [[Great Mosque of Taza]] (present-day Morocco) in the late 13th century.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=116, 181–182}}

===In popular culture===
A posthumous poetical illustration by [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] to an engraving of a painting by [[David Roberts (painter)|David Roberts]], was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1840. Entitled ''The Mosque at Cordova'', this harks back to 'the Moslem rule in Spain'.<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1840|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=5lQFAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA14|section=picture|year=1839|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}} {{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1840|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=5lQFAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA16|section=poetical illustration|pages=17–19|year=1839|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref>{{wikisource|Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1840/The Mosque at Cordova|The Mosque at Cordova, a picture by David Roberts with a poetical illustration by L. E. L.}}

The [[South Asia]]n Muslim philosopher and poet [[Muhammad Iqbal]], who is widely regarded as having inspired the [[Pakistan Movement]], visited the Great Cathedral of Córdoba in 1931–32. He asked the authorities to offer ''adhan'' at the cathedral and was even allowed to offer his prayers there. The deep emotional responses that the mosque evoked in him found expression in his poem called [[The Mosque of Cordoba (poem)|"The Mosque of Cordoba"]]. Allama Iqbal saw it as a cultural landmark of Islam and described it as:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allamaiqbal.com/webcont/406/web_pages/cordova_mosque.htm|title=Iqbal and Spain – Home Page|work=allamaiqbal.com}}</ref>
{{blockquote|<poem>Sacred for lovers of art, you are the glory of faith,
You have made Andalusia pure as a holy land!<ref name="poem">[[Muhammad Iqbal]], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_99hl6ykpc The Mosque of Córdoba]</ref></poem>}}

[[Louis L'Amour]]'s ''[[The Walking Drum]]'' features a detailed description of the Court of Oranges in the 12th century.

==See also==
*[[List of former mosques in Spain]]
*[[History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes]]
*[[History of early modern period domes]]
*[[Timeline of Muslim history]]
*[[12 Treasures of Spain]]
*[[List of the oldest mosques]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal
|last1=Jover Báez
|first1=J.
|last2=Rosa
|first2=B.
|year=2017
|title=Patrimonio cultural en disputa: la Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba
|journal=Cuadernos Geográficos
|volume=56
|number=1
|pages=322–343
|url=https://www.academia.edu/32804328}}
* {{cite book
|first=Barbara
|last=Messina
|title=Geometrie in pietra. La moschea di Cordova
|publisher=Giannini
|place=Naples
|year=2004
|isbn=9788874312368}}
*D.F. Ruggles, "From the Heavens and Hills: The Flow of Water to the Fruited Trees and Ablution Fountains in the Great Mosque of Cordoba", in ''[https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300158991/rivers-paradise Rivers of Paradise: Water in Islamic Art]'', ed. S. Blair and J. Bloom (London: Yale University Press, 2009), pp.&nbsp;81–103
*D.F. Ruggles, ''[https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14389.html Islamic Gardens and Landscapes]'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008)

==External links==
{{commons|Mezquita de Córdoba|Mezquita de Córdoba}}
*{{official website|https://mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es/}}
*[https://artsandculture.google.com/story/rwWx9aQi1Pc8Lg Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba] UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.879062,-4.779675&spn=0.003636,0.007522&t=k Mezquita (Great Mosque) of Córdoba at Google Maps]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141006070341/http://islamic-arts.org/2012/mosque-of-cordova/ The Mosque of Cordova (during early 19th century)]
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/45966/rec/1 ''Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain''], an exhibition catalogue from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba (see index)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131212044857/http://www.virtimeplace.com/en/vtp/cordoba-mosque-ext2 The Great Mosque of Cordoba in the tenth century], VirTimePlace.
*[http://www.cordoba24.info/english/html/mezquita.html General information about the mosque and opening hours]

{{Córdoba, Andalusia}}
{{Cathedrals in Spain}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Mosque of Cordoba}}
[[Category:Moorish architecture in Spain]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Córdoba, Spain]]
[[Category:Historic centre of Córdoba, Spain]]
[[Category:Former mosques in Spain]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic churches in Córdoba, Spain]]
[[Category:Churches converted from mosques]]
[[Category:Arcades (architecture)]]
[[Category:8th-century mosques]]
[[Category:7th-century churches in Spain]]
[[Category:Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Córdoba (Spain)]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic cathedrals in Andalusia|Cordoba]]
[[Category:Mosques converted from churches]]
[[Category:Buildings converted to Catholic church buildings]]
[[Category:Architecture of the Emirate of Córdoba]]
[[Category:Architecture of the Caliphate of Córdoba]]
[[Category:Renaissance architecture in Spain]]