Mezquita and Cathedral

The most amazing thing to see in Cordoba is the Medieval Mosque and the Renaissance Cathedral that has been built within the Mosque.

The medieval mosque is huge, one of the biggest in the world. It measures 23,000 square metres, 2.3 hectares, or about 5 acres, under the roof, plus the large courtyard. It is estimated that 40,000 muslims could worship within, or 70,000 could worship in Ramadan standing up. The scale of the place is incredible.

When the Christians took over the city of Cordoba in about 1250, the Christians built a church within the Mosque. Later, in the Renaissance period, in the 16th century, a larger cathedral was built within the Mosque, but still leaving most of the mosque intact. So the current building is an amalgam of mosque and Christian churches of various sizes.

What stands out is the pillars and arches of the mosque when inside. The Muslims used the old Roman buildings to scavenge columns and stones which were used in the construction of the huge mosque.

The mosque is so large that it was built in four stages over a number of centuries, between the ninth century and the 12th century.

Sam and I went on a tour of the Mosque and Cathedral and were in awe of the architecture and the scale of the building which is over 1000 years old in its earliest stages. It is the third most visited tourist site in Spain behind the Alhambra in Granada and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.Read more