Photo: Interior Architecture Mezquita Cordoba City Andalusia Spain

The naves of the Mezquita, meaning Mosque in Spanish, is one of the most extraordinary sites in this cathedral style mosque. It is a former mosque, and now is a Roman Catholic Cathedral. When it was built in 784 AD, it was the second largest mosque.

When construction first started on this building, it was in 600 AD as a Christian Visigothic Church, and it was turned into a mosque starting in 784 AD when the beautiful Moorish styling of architecture was added. It was later refashioned again in 1236 as a Christian Church and architects continued to work on the building until the 18th century.

Today this church is the home of the main church of the diocese in the whole of Spain. When the mosque was refashioned into a church some of the original interior Islamic columns were replaced with an extension in an early Baroque style of architecture.

This style of architecture looks at both secular and religious symbols from Islamic influences and it is easily recognizable in various buildings, whether it be public buildings, or religious buildings. ... continue below the picture...

... The style of these naves are a perfect example of this, and even though this is a Roman Catholic church now, the naves of the interior reflect the buildings past as an Islamic mosque.

The Mezquita underwent many changes, but the most significant was probably the addition of a cathedral nave in the Renaissance style in the middle of the previous mosque. Many Spanish people believe that this conversion may have helped preserve the church during the Spanish Inquisition when most of the mosques were destroyed.

Naves of the Mezquita (Cathedral-Mosque), City of Cordoba, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Province of Cordoba, Andalusia (Andalucia), Spain, Europe.