Masterpieces of Spanish Islamic and Visigothic Architecture
Church of San Juan de Baños
The Church of San Juan de Baños is a basilica with three naves and three apses (only the central one is original). Over the years, it has undergone several partial reconstructions, even in the original plan, which was expanded to the fourth and final arch in a kind of transept. This transept opened onto a triple apse consisting of three rectangular, non-continuous chapels.
Exterior Door: Pure Visigothic architecture with a horseshoe arch. Decoration is present on the imposts and the extrados of the voussoirs. Inside, you can see Visigothic arches resting on marble columns with Corinthian capitals.
Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
The Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo is a building with three naves and a gabled facade made of brick. A circular bell tower stands to the front left of the basilica. The nave, twice as wide as the aisles, ends in a semicircular apse and is defined by twelve pairs of opposing columns with round arches.
It features some wonderful and colorful mosaics. The walls of the nave are divided into three distinct decorative areas. The top area is decorated with a series of alternating panels. These panels show scenes from the life of Christ with meticulous detail, although they were once even larger, making their visibility somewhat limited. The central part has panels between windows framing solid figures of saints and prophets in shaded robes. Despite the indefinite gold background, they are in a prophetic plane.
The columns located on the arches of the palace are thin and slender (in reality, they should be of marble) and are topped with Corinthian capitals. Above the arches, featuring motifs of angels with garlands of flowers, are a series of low arches protected by railings and a tile roof, which was probably a long, covered terrace.
Courtyard of the Palace of Medina Azahara
The structure is characterized by horseshoe arches with alternating smooth and recessed/decorated segments highlighted on the intrados. These arches are framed by an alfiz and rest on classical columns with Corinthian and composite capitals, worked with a Byzantine-style drill bit, resulting in the so-called “honeycomb” capitals. The Attic bases are also decorated with epigraphic elements and moldings. The richness of materials extends to the baseboards of the walls, covered with decorative panels and marble slabs decorated with ataurique (vegetal motifs).
Dome of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba
The structure is characterized by horseshoe arches with alternating smooth and recessed/decorated segments highlighted on the intrados. These arches are framed by an alfiz and rest on classical columns with Corinthian and composite capitals, worked with a Byzantine-style drill bit, resulting in “honeycomb” capitals. The Attic bases are also decorated with epigraphic elements and moldings. The richness of materials extends to the baseboards of the walls, covered with decorative panels and marble slabs decorated with ataurique.
Alhambra in Granada
This palace-fortress, commissioned by kings Muhammad V and Yusuf I, is a representative work of Spanish Islamic art, specifically of the Nasrid period, and was built during the 14th and 15th centuries. The materials used are mostly brick, masonry, plaster, and wood. The architectural system combines vaulted and lintel structures.
The most commonly used supports are pillars and columns. Generally, the columns are very thin. The arches used are varied: slightly pointed arches, horseshoe arches, and lobed arches, frequently interlaced. The arches are covered with domes featuring squinches, hemispherical domes, and ribbed vaults, which result from the intersection of two vaults, showing the nerves on which they rest.
Muslim vaults have the peculiarity that the nerves do not pass through the center, forming varied shapes. Muslim buildings are generally not very high, allowing the domes to protrude on the exterior. The shapes of the buildings are usually quite cubic, allowing the dome to be visible from the outside. Decoration is important in Islamic works, especially under the influence of Persian and Byzantine culture.