Roland Routier

Throughout Spain, the main feature of this week is the procession of floats from each parish through the streets into the main church or cathedral and back to their home base.
In Cordova alone I counted 55, although I certainly didn't see all of them. The
Parroqui de Santiago Apostol carried a 1975 work by Luis Alvarez Duarte of Mary at the foot of the cross for the shortest time of 4 hours. At the other extreme the Parroquia San Antonio Maria Claret carried their float, a 19th C anonymous work of Christ on the cross with Mary at the foot, for 10 1/2 hours starting at 17:30 and finishing at 04:00 the next morning. The Iglesia Conventual de San Augustin claims to have commenced their processions in 1558. Although there are a few who claim to have been founded in that century and re-constituted in the early 20th C, the majority have origins in the latter half of the last century, up to the youngest, (Parroquia San Vivente Ferrer,) in 2006.En savoir plus

In order to cover 14,400 sq metres of floor space, the builders borrowed the double arches from Roman aquaducts to create a lightweight and airy structure.
A flat roof, decorated with gold and multicoloured motifs, was support­ed by striped arches suggestive of a forest of date palms. The arches rested on, even­tually, 1293 columns (of which 856 remain today) forming 39 naves standing perpendicular to the qibla wall.

MezquitaTIMELINE
600 Foundation of a Christian church, the Basilica of San Vicente, on the site of the present Mezquita.
785 Salvaging Visigothic and Roman ruins, Emir Abd ar-Rahman I replaces the church with a mezquita (mosque).
833–56 Mosque enlarged by Abd ar-Rahman II.
951–2 A new minaret is built by Abd ar-Rahman III.
962–71 Mosque enlarged, and superb new mihrab 1􀀀 added, by Al-Hakim II.
978–9 Mosque enlarged for the last time by Al-Mansur, who also enlarged the courtyard (now the Patio de los Naranjos 2), bringing the whole complex to its current dimensions.
1236 Mosque converted into a Christian church after Córdoba is recaptured by Fernando III of Castilla.1271 Instead of destroying the mosque, the Christians modify it, creating the Capilla de Villaviciosa 3 and Capilla Real 4.
1523 Work on a Gothic/Renaissance-style cathedral inside the Mezquita begins, with permission of Carlos I.
1593–1664 The 10th-century minaret is reinforced and rebuilt as a Renaissance-baroque belltower 5.
2004 Spanish Muslims petition to be able to worship in the Mezquita again. The Vatican doesn’t consent.En savoir plus