The Mezquita

Cordoba Day 2: The Mezquita
 
This is the fabulous Mezquita, the former Aljama Mosque.  It is a truly beautiful place and apparently one of the world’s greatest works of Muslim architecture.  
 
A forest of pillars and arches creates a surprisingly spacious and serene environment.  It is perhaps unique amongst the religious buildings that I have visited.  With its wonderful decoration, it hints at a time when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived side by side and enriched their city with their divergent cultures.  Sadly it was not to last.
 
From 1236, when the Spanish conquered Cordoba from the Moors the Mezquita was used as a Christian church.  In 16th Century King Carlos I gave the Cathedral authorities permission to rip out of the centre of the Mezquita in order to construct the main altar area and choir. Legend has it that when he eventually saw what had been done he was horrified exclaiming “You have destroyed something unique in the world”.


In 2004 Spanish Muslims petitioned the Vatican to be able to worship in the Mezquita again, but were denied permission.
 

The extra is a shot of the mihrab, the mosque’s greatest treasure – a beautiful prayer niche in the wall facing Mecca, added to the mosque in the 10th Century.


This has taken several attempts to get it uploaded over the course of an hour.  Having finally managed to get it to upload after any number of dropped connections Blipfoto then rejected the image as too large... Argh! Fortunately the WiFi in the reception area of the hotel is more consistent, so now I'm trying to work out how big a file Blipfoto will accept - does anyone know what the limit is?  It would be helpful if the error message gave you that information.  If you are reading this, my trial and error worked!