Researchers
The Great Mosque of Cordoba
The Great Mosque of Cordoba, the Umayyads' greatest work in the west: begun by Abd al-Rahman I in 785 and enlarged by caliphs for two centuries. Its hall is famous for the forest of columns — hundreds of marble shafts carrying double arches of red and white stone that open endless vistas before the worshipper. Its mihrab from al-Hakam II's reign is a Byzantine mosaic masterpiece writing golden text on blue and green, and its maqsura a dome of interlaced ribs like stone lace. Centuries later a cathedral rose in its midst, making it the one building joining mosque and church in a single body — all of Cordoba's layers in one place. In her the visitor learns that architecture is a nation's memory: Roman columns reused, Umayyad arches developed, inscriptions written in conquerors' tongues — and the building stayed a trust in the city's hands through its caliphs, kings and creeds.