Historic Mosques: Kairouan and Cordoba Architectural Marvels
Uqba Mosque: A Fortress of Faith in Kairouan
The Uqba Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Kairouan, resembles an imposing fortress. This is due to the strength of the 1.9-meter-thick rocks used to raise the walls, corner towers, and foothills that support and reinforce the structure. The mosque has an irregular ring shape. The courtyard, accessible by six side doors, is a rectangle of impressive dimensions. This vast space is surrounded by beautiful galleries formed by double arches supported by columns of marble, granite, and porphyry.
The Majestic Minaret
The mosque’s minaret, used to call the faithful to prayer, consists of three declining levels, with the top floor finished in a small dome. Its total height is 31.5 meters, and its awesome form dominates the skyline. The minaret is built on a square base in the middle of the northern facade of the mosque. Commenced by the Umayyad governor Ibn Bishr around the year 725 and completed by the Aghlabid princes in the ninth century, it is the oldest minaret in the world.
The Grand Prayer Hall
The prayer hall, accessible through seventeen wooden doors, is divided into seventeen naves and more than eight sections. It includes four ancient columns of white marble and red porphyry, similar to the blue granite columns of the galleries that line the patio. The minbar, dating from the ninth century, is known as the oldest in the Islamic world. It is composed of about three hundred pieces of carefully sculpted and assembled teak. To the right of the minbar is the maqsura, a space surrounded by a beautiful wooden wall finely decorated with various geometric motifs, where the ruler attends prayer.
The Exquisite Mihrab
The mihrab, which indicates the direction of Mecca, is covered with twenty-eight marble panels carved with a variety of geometric and vegetal motifs. The rectangular alfiz that frames the mihrab is decorated with ceramic tiles in luster and monochrome colors. All pieces are 21 inches square and 1 cm thick. Due to its elegant decoration, the mihrab is considered one of the most harmonious compositions of Islamic art.
The Great Mosque of Cordoba: A Testament to Power
The Great Mosque of Cordoba is the artistic reflection of the power of one of the most important political states of the West in the ninth and tenth centuries: the Emirate and Caliphate of Cordoba. The mosque is a huge ring of sumptuous arches covering 24,000 square meters. The most important parts of the building are the old minaret or tower, the courtyard, and the prayer hall.
Key Architectural Features
- The Minaret: Built by Abdurrahman III, it was transformed into a baroque tower in the late sixteenth century.
- The Courtyard: Originally extended by Abdurrahman III and Mansur in the tenth century, the current cloisters are the product of a total refurbishment carried out in the early decades of the sixteenth century. Under the orange trees, there is a large tank that ensured water for the purification of Muslims.
- The Prayer Hall:
- Abderrahman I Stage: Built on the old church of San Vicente in the ninth decade of the eighth century, the mosque features eleven naves with columns from different sources (Roman, Byzantine, Visigothic) supporting horseshoe arches. Decorative pillars support structural arches over half a point, with white and red brick masonry.
- Abderrahman II Stage: Seven sections were added to the mosque, extending it considerably southward. The media include reused old Visigoth columns, as well as the first model Arab Corinthian capitals.
- Al-Hakam II Stage (961-976): The mosque was expanded again, extending twelve sections of the prayer hall. The model basically repeats the arches of Abdurrahman I, but also introduces cross-linked poly-lobed arches. The dome of the chapel of Villaviciosa and the one above the mihrab, covered with rich mosaics, are remarkable. Corinthian and compound capitals alternate, as do the shafts of blue and pink marble. The luxury of the decoration is concentrated in the chapel of the mihrab, highlighting the gorgeous mosaic coatings. The interior of the mihrab is covered with a huge plaster shell of great ornamental value.
- Almanzor Stage: The extensive expansion carried out between 987 and 990 offers news in architecture and is considered a show to assert political power.