Madinat al-Zahra

I spent the day with the students from the Adult School on the end of the year field trip to Cordoba to Madinat al-Zahra and the Mezquita-Catedral (Mosque-Cathedral). Madinat al-Zahra is a muslim city in ruins that in the 10th century was the seat of the Cordoba Caliphate. I had never visited these ruins before and our guide was excellent so that my third trip to the Cathedral of Cordoba was the most informative yet. :) Both my mother and sister-in-law came on the trip as well, so I was in good company.

Cordoba is known for its high temperatures and high humidity. This week we've been suddenly thrown into summer weather (Tuesday it got up to 40C=102F)! Today was no exception; however, our trip was well planned so that our outdoor visit to the ruins was in the morning before the real heat, and the afternoon was divided between lunch and our visit to the Cathedral.

Madinat al-Zahara means The Shining City and it was built by the first Caliph (representation of Allah on earth) of Cordoba as a demonstration of his wealth and power. The city is about six km. from the historical center of Cordoba and the Caliph transported all of his royal court to the new city. However, the city lasted only a total of 80 years including the time it took to build.

The interpretive center had a great video with computer recreations of what the city looked like during the 10th century--impressive. The architecture is very similar to the Mosque-Cathedral: horseshoe arches of alternate white stone and red brick, and pink and grey marble columns with carved stone capitals. I thought the preservation was quite impressive.

On the right you can see one of the original arches of the portico fallen in ruins on the ground and next to it are the three rebuilt arches below. I love to think about all that happened within the walls of this city and all the work and skill that went into building it.

Our afternoon visit to the Mosque-Cathedral was great, and not only because it was cool inside the stone walls. Since I was last there (2004) they have uncovered a hole in the floor to reveal the mosaicked floor of the previous Visigoth Church that was in this same location! I never realized that the so-called Mosque-Cathedral had been a place of Christian worship in pre-Islamic Spain (Al-Andalus). So first it was a Byzantine church, then a Mosque, and finally a Catholic Cathedral.

The mosque also underwent three expansions before the Christian take-over (or as they say: reconquest) to accommodate for the

growing muslim population in Cordoba (there were also Christians and Jews living in the Caliphate). Each of the successive expansions used slightly different materials so that the differences within the building are noticeable, but without disrupting the general architectural harmony inside the mosque. Columns and capitals were reused from the previous Visigoth church and even older Roman buildings in the area. Later, at the height of the Caliphate, there was a shift in the architecture toward the ornate and finally, granite columns in the third extension reflect the decline and increasing poverty of the Caliphate.

It was a fascinating visit.