An Architectural Vessel of Power - The Great Mosque of Cordoba

An Architectural vessel of power:

The Great Mosque of Cordoba

Snehanjali Sumanth20378875

The Great Mosque of Cordoba is a witness to the political fluctuations in Spain, the

preservation of its architecture as evidence of the presence of various rulings in Cordoba. Its earth has

seen the Romans worship of Janus, the Visigothic love for St. Vincent, the Arab's dedication to the

Great Mosque of Cordoba, and the occurrence once again of a Cathedral, this time arbitrarily placed in

the midst of the purposeful columns of the mosque. The cyclical nature of the rulers in Cordoba is

mirrored in the architecture of the mosque that gathers and documents the presence of the various

rulings over time. During the Arab rule, the Great Mosque of Cordoba has seen several rulers and

expansions, four of which are significant in terms of content and quantity. Ever since the start of the

mosque in 785 CE till when the Christians invaded in 1236, its architecture has embodied the power of

the Arab empire over the Christian inhabitants in Spain. This power was portrayed in the

implementation of iconic Muslim and Umayyad Architecture in the initial design and expansions of the

Mosque, the control of symbolic elements of religious architecture and the appropriation of Christian

Architecture in the plan and elevation of the Mosque.

Abd al'Rahman was the lone survivor of the massacring of the Umayyad royal family at the

hands of al-Saffah, the head of the Abbasid family. He escaped to North Africa, conquered al-Andulus

and made himself emir of Cordoba, all in six years. Prior to the construction of the Mosque, the church

of St. Vincent occupied the site. Abd al'Rahman bought the land the church rested on and began the

construction of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in 758.

The initial design of the mosque encased various traditional forms inspired by iconic Islamic and

Umayyad buildings. This was a means of bringing in Islamic tradition by the means of arts into


Cordoba and solidifying the presence of their power. Built between 786 and 787, it had a simple,

conservative hypostyle plan of twelve bays and eleven aisles that ran perpendicular to the qibla like

those of the Umayyad mosque of al-Walid in Jerusalem.(pg.95 Dodds) The direction of the arcades as

being perpendicular to the back wall and the parallel gable roofs are also an imitation of the

architecture of Aqsa II. This tradition of form is also carried on in the design of the earliest doors of the

Great Mosque. The door of Saint Stephen, begun with the first campaign of the mosque (786-787) and

restored in 855, uses a formula of design that survives in the more elaborate doors of the next two

centuries: an arch constructed in tas de charge with a wide extrados is inscribed in an alfiz and

originally topped in stepped merlons in relief.(pg.96 Dodds).

After the initial design and construction by Abd al'Rahman I, the mosque went through four

expansions, all of which carried on the tradition of implementing parts of iconic Islamic architecture.

The additions of Abd al'Rahman III in the tenth century expanded on the courtyard, constructing

porticos and added a minaret to the right of the entrance, both of which showcased the influence of

Islamic architecture. Though rebuilt, those that survive today retain the alternation of two columns and

a pier that mirrors the distinctive and monumental court of the Great Mosque of Damascus(pg.96

Dodds).

When al-Hakam, the son of Abd al'Rahman III ascended to the caliphate in 961, he enlarged the

prayer hall in the direction of the qibla by extending the existing arcades twelve bays. While aspects of

Al-Hakam's design of the mihrab and maqsura strayed away from the traditional design carried on by

his predecessors, its influence was still present. The actual presence of a maqsura, which is the creation

of exclusive areas around the mihrab by the use of domes and accentuated aisles to draw attention to

the mihrab were mimicked from developments that has already occurred in eighth century Medina.

More recently, they had been accomplished through different designs in the mosque of al-Hakim at


Cairo and at the Great Mosque of Kairouan(pg.97 Dodds). The most iconic application of traditional

form is present in the design of the Mihrab, solely because of the iconic nature of the Mihrab. The

interior of the Mihrab contains mosaic inscriptions that form an intricate net of geometric and vegetal

patterns. The geometrical patterns represent the idea of infinity and multiplicity and therefore oneness

while the vegetal patterns represent fertility and paradise and together, these create arabesque

iconography. The facade of the mihrab follows the form already established at the mosque, at least with

the building of the door of Saint Stephen, and possibly the lost mihrab arch of the qibla of Abd

al'Rahman II, the columns of which are purposefully incorporated and identified in al-Hakam II's

qibla(pg.98 Dodds).

Architecture and iconography carried over generations and lands into the Great Mosque of

Cordoba, connecting it to other religious centres and establishing it as an Arab symbol of power in

Spain.

Like the Mihrab, symbolic elements of architecture convey meaning and power in their form.

The growth of architecture vertically showcased its presence and demanded attention. This growth

resulted in a mutual understanding and acknowledgement of the strength of these elements in both

Christian and Islamic architecture. There then arose a need to take down these significant parts of

churches that encroach upon the skyline and cityscape. In the glittering reign of the Arabs the towers of

the basilicas of the city were destroyed, the vaults of the temples pulled down, and the pinnacles of the

churches cast down(pg.102 Dodds). Along with the act of destruction of the other's symbolic presence,

came the act of creation of one's own. During the expansion by Abd al'Rahman III, a minaret made of

stone was built in thirteen months on the North Facade next to the entrance and the height of the

Minaret amounts to 73 cubits, measured to the highest point of the open domed pavilion...On the


summit of this dome are golden and silver apples. The circumference if each apple is three and a half

spans; two were of pure gold and one of silver. Below and above each were lilies very beautifully

worked, and at the end of the spar a little golden pomegranate(pg.293, Creswell). The minaret's

majestic presence is recognized to this date, its intentions therefore fulfilled from the time it was built

to present date. The basic language of the tower speaks power and privilege. The twenty-seven feet

square and one hundred and eight feet high minaret, which was built by Abd al'Rahman III after the

demolition on the old minarets, is a masterpiece of architecture. There are two staircases with one

hundred and seven steps, one for ascending, another for descending. Abd al'Rahman III spent 261,530

dinars on the construction of the minaret and decoration of the mosque(pg 167, Creswell).

The presence of power in form was also evident in the idea of advertising religious devotion. The

ringing of bells is a significant sign of the basilica and just as the minaret showcases its power in height

and grandeur, the bells captivate listeners in its rhythmic calling. Similar to the act of tearing down

monumental Christian architecture, there was an effort to conquer the bells of Santiago de Compostela.

Upon sacking the holy center in 997, al-Mansur burnt the church took the bells to Cordoba, where he

put them in the mosque. Fernando III, after conquering Cordoba in 1236, sent the bells back to

Santiago on the backs of Muslim prisoners(pg.103 Dodds). In this way, the Arab's used their control of

architectural elements that were significant in meaning and form to portray their power over the other.

As mentioned earlier, there were unique additions to the design that strayed away from the

traditional procedures during the expansion by al-Hakam the second. He began to implement elements

of churches into the plan and elevations that yet served the purpose of Islamic worship, thus

appropriating Christian architecture. The characteristics of the Mihrab are like none seen before. It

transforms from the traditional niche carved out of a thick wall into an octagonal space in plan. For

rather than the traditional form of a niche in the thickness of a wall, the mihrab of the Great Mosque of


Cordoba is an elaborate, octagonal room, a space gained through an arch like apses of Christian

churches the first in the history of mosque architecture to take that form(pg.99 Dodds).

Al-Hakam II's additions also included the creation of four domes in the shape of a cross in plan,

resembling very obviously, the plan of a church. At Cordoba, then, four domes and complex interlacing

arches create a basilical space within the mosque, one that serves to funnel our interest towards the

maqsura and the extraordinary mihrab: that swelling room encased in a double qibla wall. The dome at

the foot of the additions in the mihrab isle limits, by virtue of its illuminated bays, the spaces set apart

from the rest of the mosque(pg. 100 Dodds).

What is set apart takes the shape of a large longitudinal space that entertains a very important Islamic

rite centered around a famous Koran. The ceremony is described by Al-Adrisi:

In this room (to the left of the mihrab) there is also a copy of the Koran which, because of its

weight is carried by two men. It includes four leaves of the copy that Uthman ibn Affan wrote with his

own hand and which is stained with spots of his book...This Koran is taken (from the room) every

Friday morning: two men, who are among the authorities of the mosque are charged to take it out,

preceded by a third, who carries a candle. It is covered with a binding of original work, engraved in the

most remarkable fashion, the most delicate and amazing that there is. At the place where one prays is

found a pulpit on which it is posed, the imam gives the customary reading of the hizb of the Koran,

then it is returned to its habitual placepg 100-101 Dodds).

This ceremony is very much like Christian rite in churches and it facilitated by the space created due to

the domes that resemble a cross. The very obvious incorporation of parts of the plan and elevation into

the mosque to serve vital Islamic elements and rites is a clear appropriation of the other's architecture

and a showcase of the Arab empire's power.

Until the Christian invasion in 1236 and the insertion of the cathedral in the midst of the


hundreds of columns in the mosque, the Arab empire went through ups and downs, at times flourishing

and at times struggling. However the architecture and expansion of the Great Mosque of Cordoba was

glorious in all its elements of power, from the influence of iconic Islamic architecture, the manipulation

of symbolic elements of architectural form and the appropriation on Christian architecture. Through

this time, whether the existence of the other was in the manner of coexistence or oppression, the Great

Mosque of Cordoba was a constant expression of the strong standing presence of the Arab empire in

Cordoba.


Bibliography

Dodds, Jerrilynn D. Architecture and Ideology in Early Medieval Spain. University Park, PA:

Pennsylvania State UP, 1990. Print.

Creswell, Keppel Archibald Cameron. A Short Account of Early Muslim Architecture.

Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1958. Print.

Burckhardt, Titus. Moorish Culture in Spain. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972. Print.

Barrucand, Marianne, and Achim Bednorz. Moorish Architecture in Andalusia. Kn: Taschen,

1992. Print.


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An Architectural Vessel of Power - The Great Mosque of Cordoba