la mezquita

On Saturday, December 11, I took a train to Córdoba, a city northeast of Sevilla, and met up with Sam and Austin, two friends of mine from USC (and Buenos Aires and Santiago), who are also teachers' assistants. It was pleasant to see friends from home and exciting to finally see La Meqzquita of Córdoba, which I had learned about in high school while studying Spanish culture.

Mezquita means mosque, and traditionally refers to the principal mosque in a city. But actually, La Mezquita in Córdoba is not a mosque (anymore). It started out as a pagan temple in the time of the Visigoths, and upon the Moorish conquest, was converted into a mosque. The Moors eventually built a large mosque in place of the old one. After the Reconquista, when the Christians regained control of the region and united Spain, a Catholic cathedral was built into the center of the mezquita. The building is now referred to as the mezquita-catedral, and inside, you find a unique combination of Arabic design and Catholic religious symbols. See if you can spot both in the pictures below.

 The "candy-cane-like" arches, unique to the Mezquita, create the illusion that the interior of the building is much bigger than it actually is.

 

 

Sam and me :)