History of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

Two buildings, the Hagia Sophia and the Great Mosque of Cordoba, can show us two separate peoples and their approach to constructing architecture that was devoted to their religions. However, while religion played a huge role, there are similarities as well between the two that show that the rulers who commissioned these buildings were interested in mimicking beauty and showing the world that their building was the most beautiful and perhaps the most elite of its time as well as proving their divinity as a ruler of a great nation.

Driving along the highway, all eyes are drawn as a magnet to the unique building with its golden dome and unusual architecture. The Islamic Center is located at the base of a residential street in a small neighborhood. The center houses an Islamic school, a community center, an international school and the Mosque, which is the place of worship for Muslims.

The mosque can be identified by its elaborate squinch-supported domes. The Great Mosque of Cordoba is one of the finest surviving examples of Umayyad architecture in Spain. The mosque has marble capitals and columns in the hypostyle prayer hall. A person enters the hall through an open courtyard called a sahn. Its famous horseshoe arches have an alternated pattern of pale stone and red brick voussoirs

Artfully constructed and etched in Quranic verse, the Dome sits upon its ominous perch and serves as the center of Jerusalem. Regardless of one's religious or political slant, the sheer magnificence of the building cannot be ignored – nor can its intrinsic message. From an uninfluenced perspective, one cannot help but observe the Dome as an attempt to

As my chosen work of art is the The Mihrab, it was a remarkable experience to visit the The Metropolitan Museum of Art. After a two hour long commute, which includes two train switch and one wrong train, my friend and I were finally able to locate this museum. As lavish as it is on the outside, it also does not disappoints on the inside. The Metropolitan Museum left me spellbinding with its aura of artistic treasures from multiple eras. However, my favorite work of art belongs to the Islamic art period, the Mihrab. The Mihrab is a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla—that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca—and it contains typical patterns and calligraphy from the Islamic art period.

Literature helps us remember the past and honor the victims of the Holocaust in many contrasting ways. “The Grand Mosque of Paris”, an explanatory text by Karen Ruelle, “A Great Adventure in the Shadow of a War” , a reflective essay by Mary Helen Dirkx, “ The Diary of a Young Girl”, a diary excerpt by Anne Frank, “The Diary of Anne Frank”, an autobiography by Anne Frank, the “Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Peace Prize”, a speech by Elie Wiesel, and “Maus”, a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman all present the past in different ways to help us honor the victims of the Holocaust.

prepared to sacrifice Isaac here. Both inside and outside of the mosque holds magnificent beauty,

The first reason you will probably be surprised will be by the place itself. Whilst many mosques seem grand and splendid from the outside, there is, in fact, very little to see inside a mosque. The prayer hall, where the public worship takes place five times a day, is actually very plain, because of the nature of Islam itself. You will find no statues, nor paintings, nor depictive stained glass. There is no altar, nor elaborate robes, nor candlesticks.

Though architecture is something that we see and observe daily, to truly get to know a building we must observe it from all angles and view every detail to understand its beauty and the purpose of why it was created. Many unique buildings have been constructed all over the world, however, the most unique structures and its bold design will catch the eye of bystanders more often, such as The Dome of the Rock. This building, which is located in Jerusalem, caught the eye of many people due the huge golden dome structure that sits on top of the building and the decorative colors and tiles that surround the building. The historical significance of this building is upheld by the religion of its local people, the location site of the building, along with the structure and the design of the building itself.

Religious rituals hold a very sacred place in the hearts of believers, being able to witness one from an outsider perspective is something that is truly eye opening. Personally, following our unit in class, I had a desire to witness at least one practice associated with the Muslim religion. The Nueces Mosque was perfect for this purpose because of its proximity but is mostly dominated by a younger demographic. I reached out to the president of the mosque, Ammarah Tariq, who very graciously welcomed me to join them for their Friday ritual prayer service, Jumu’ah. Members of the community noticed I was clearly an outsider and did not hesitate to greet me and explain to me procedures to adhere to such as removing my shoes. Following the removal

The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba represents the many cultural changes the city of Córdoba and the areas around it have gone through. It has stood in the center of the city for over a millennium, and it doesn’t look like it will fall anytime soon. It covers over 24,000 square meters (about 250,000 square feet), and is 9 meters tall at its lowest and 30 meters tall at its highest.

Pre-Islamic culture created the Great Mosque at Cordoba with a reference to their environment and the concept of “infinite”; the sand from the desert represents the infinite amount of geometric patterns and modules in Islamic design along with the idea of a non-comprehensible amount of vast desert area. The architecture is made with stone covered in fabric like designs. Arabesque forms are seen with the ceilings and high arches. The plants forms in the pictures celebrate the oasis part of the Islam nomadic life. The colors are also kept simple, with a nautral palette. After the new faith, design was put into modular shapes with arabesque forms of writing, along with an aniconic form of design to emphasize the higher

My first impression upon arriving at the mosque was that it was very drab and plain inside, as compared to how it looked on the outside. The religion I grew up in had beautifully decorated churches; while I wanted to ask why the mosque was so drab inside, I felt it would sound rude and unkind. Furthermore, I was disappointed to see the only chairs available to sit upon in the mosque were for pregnant, disabled, and elderly people. The religion I grew up in had nice, plump, padded pews for its members to sit upon. Again, I did not question why there were no pews as I felt it would be unkind.

Over a thousand years ago, Europe experienced one of its greatest periods of cultural enlightenment.Islam in Spain has had a fundamental presence in the culture and history of the nation. The religion was present inmodern Spanish soil from 711 until 1492 under the rule of the Arabs and Moors of al-Andalus.Islamic Spain was a multi-cultural mix of the people of three great monotheistic religions: Muslims,Christians, and Jews.For more than three centuries in Medieval Spain, Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together and prospered in a thriving multicultural civilization. Here, remarkable individuals of different faiths made lasting contributions in such areas as poetry, art, architecture, music, dining etiquette, science, agriculture,

I chose to research the Muslim religion for my site visit. I wanted to have in depth experience with this religion since I did my group project about Sikhism and during class we went into great detail about every other religion. I did not know what to expect when visiting a mosque, it was a pretty nerve-wracking experience for me being a non-Muslim. I have been raised with Christian morals my whole life even though I have only gone to church a few times in my whole life. Almost all religions have a house of prayer; Jews have synagogues, Buddhists/Hindus have temples and Catholic and Christians have churches and cathedrals. Muslims have mosques; each religious center has their own different rules, rituals and services that need to be followed. A mosque is a place of prayer for Muslims within the Islamic belief. Another word for mosque in Arabic is Masjid. Kind of like a church, a mosque is where Muslims worship and bow before Allah to declare their obedience and loyalty. Mosques date back till the time of the prophet. In order to find a mosque, I went on the Internet and stumbled upon Masjid Beit El-Maqdes.