西班牙哥多巴的清真寺 Mezquita of Cordoba.

哥多巴的大清真寺是我所见到的最美丽、最引人深思的建筑了！这完全是多种文化、宗教、艺术、建筑的结晶。I am at lost for words.

In Roman times Cordoba was the capital of Hispania Ulterior province and then, after a reorganisation, of Baetica province. With the building of the mezquita (mosque) in 784 on the site of a Visigothic Basilica, it became the most important Moorish city in Spain and the most splendid city in Europe, a position it held for 200 or so years until the Cordoban Caliphate broke up after the death of its great ruler Al-Mansur in 1002. Thereafter Cordoba was overshadowed by Seville and in the 13th century both cities fell to the Christians in the Reconquista.


View of the Mezquita of Cordoba from Puente Romano.


Mezquita in the sunset. Over the course of the next two centuries, the Mezquita was enlarged to cover an area the size of several city blocks with more than 850 columns, making it the largest mosque in the Islamic world at the time of its completion.


One of the Mezquita's exterior doors. When the Mosque was converted to a Cathedral almost all the outer doors were sealed. During Moorish times, the many open doors of the Mosque let in light which made it brighter and one would imagine a more welcoming place than it is today.


Orange Tree Patio of the Mezquita.


Inside the Mezquita are row after row of arches and pillars. Marble was required for the Mosque's construction. Many of the pillars in the Mezquita were pilfered from earlier Roman buildings. If the pillar was too long, it was sunk into the ground and reshaped to fit in with the other columns.


The Mezquita of Cordoba. Marble columns and a chapel.


The Mezquita of Cordoba. Carved from granite and marble, the pillars are capped by the characteristic banded Mudejar arches of different heights.


The entrance to the "mihrab" (Islamic prayer room) is adorned with Byzantine mosaics and bordered by Koran inscriptions done in gold.


The Mezquita of Cordoba, inlayed ceiling, beams, and a chandelier.


Painted over.


The Mezquita, Cordoba. Part of the cathedral and part of the mosque.


The elaborate ceiling of the Catedral in the Mezquita.


The Holy Cathedral Church, former Mosque of Cordoba.


The Mezquita.


The Mezquita, Cordoba.


The Torre del Alminar encloses remainsof the minaret from where the muezzin would call for prayer.


The Mezquita of Cordoba.


Cordoba.