|
Cordoba's domination of Moorish Spain began thirty years after its conquest - in 756, when the city was placed under the control of Abd ar-Rahman I , the sole survivor of the Umayyad dynasty which had been bloodily expelled from the eastern caliphate of Damascus. He proved a firm but moderate ruler, and a remarkable military campaigner, establishing control over all but the north of Spain and proclaiming himself emir, a title meaning both "king" and "son of the caliph". It was Abd ar-Rahman who commenced the building of the Great Mosque ( La Mezquita , in Spanish), purchasing from the Christians the site of the cathedral of St Vincent (which, divided by a partition wall, had previously served both communities). This original mosque was completed by his son Hisham in 796 and comprises about one-fifth of the present building, the first dozen aisles adjacent to the Patio de los Naranjos. The Cordoban emirate , maintaining independence from the eastern caliphate, soon began to rival Damascus both in power and in the brilliance of its civilization. Abd ar-Rahman II (822-52) initiated sophisticated irrigation programmes, minted his own coinage and received embassies from Byzantium. He in turn substantially enlarged the mosque. A focal point within the culture of al-Andalus , this was by now being consciously directed and enriched as an alternative to Mecca; it possessed an original script of the Koran and a bone from the arm of Muhammad and, for the Spanish Muslim who could not go to Mecca, it became the most sacred place of pilgrimage . In the broader Islamic world it ranked third in sanctity after the Kaaba of Mecca and the Al Aksa mosque of Jerusalem. In the tenth century, Cordoba reached its zenith under a new emir, Abd ar-Rahman III (912-61), one of the great rulers of Islamic history. He assumed power after a period of internal strife and, according to a contemporary historian, "subdued rebels, built palaces, gave impetus to agriculture, immortalized ancient deeds and monuments, and inflicted great damage on infidels to a point where no opponent or contender remained in al-Andalus . People obeyed en masse and wished to live with him in peace." In 929, with Muslim Spain and part of North Africa firmly under his control, Abd ar-Rahman III adopted the title of "caliph". It was a supremely confident move and was reflected in the growing splendour of Cordoba, which had become the largest, most prosperous city of Europe, outshining Byzantium and Baghdad (the new capital of the eastern caliphate) in science, culture and scholarship. At the turn of the tenth century, Moorish sources boast of the city's 27 schools, 50 hospitals (with the first separate clinics for the leprous and insane), 900 public baths, 60,300 noble mansions, 213,077 houses and 80,455 shops. The development of the Great Mosque paralleled these new heights of confidence and splendour. Abd ar-Rahman III provided it with a new minaret (which has not survived and provided the core for the later belfry), 80m high, topped by three pomegranate-shaped spheres, two of silver and one of gold and each weighing a ton. But it was his son al-Hakam II (961-76), to whom he passed on a peaceful and stable empire, who was responsible for the most brilliant expansion. He virtually doubled its extent, demolishing the south wall to add fourteen extra rows of columns, and employed Byzantine craftsmen to construct a new mihrab or prayer niche; this remains complete and is perhaps the most beautiful example of all Moorish religious architecture. Al-Hakam had extended the mosque as far to the south as was possible. The final enlargement of the building, under the chamberlain-usurper al-Mansur (977-1002), involved adding seven rows of columns to the whole east side. This spoiled the symmetry of the mosque, depriving the mihrab of its central position, but Arab historians observed that it meant there were now "as many bays as there are days of the year". They also delighted in describing the rich interior, with its 1293 marble columns, 280 chandeliers and 1445 lamps. Hanging inverted among the lamps were the bells of the pilgrimage cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Al-Mansur made his Christian captives carry them on their shoulders from Galicia - a process which was to be observed in reverse after Cordoba was captured by Fernando el Santo (the Saint) in 1236.
Your Tip for Moorish Cordoba
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Moorish Cordoba - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Moorish Cordoba - visit the main Moorish Cordoba forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Moorish Cordoba webguide section below! Thanks.
|
