The mihrab, the holiest place in a Muslim mosque, is ordinarily a semicircular niche in a wall indicating the qibla, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims face when praying. The wall on which a mihrab appears is therefore known as the ‘qibla wall’. The mihrab in the Mezquita is an exception to the usual pattern in that it is a small room behind a lavishly decorated door. The caliphs also added a maqsura, a screened-off prayer space in front of the mihrab, reserved for the ruler, intended to ensure his privacy and protect him from assassination.
The Castilians of the Reconquista era unaccountably felt no obligation to pray to Mecca, and they had insufficient appreciation of the esthetic value of the mihrab as well. In the 14th century they converted it into the chapel of Saint Peter, where the consecrated host was stored before the completion of the new Capilla Mayor in the 17th century.
In the 19th century, however, the Spanish began to rediscover the cultural heritage left by the Moors, and restoration work began on the mihrab and maqsura that has continued to the present; so visitors are now able to see it in its full glory.
The mihrab is located at the south wall of the Mezquita just to the west of the Chapel of St. Teresa. On either side of it are two doors. The door on the left (facing the wall) of the mihrab, called the Bab Bayt al-Mal, led to the mosque treasury, which of course is now the cathedral treasury. The one on the right, the Bab al-Sabat, led to a passage (sabat) connecting the mosque to the caliph’s palace. The mihrab and the doors are lavishly decorated with mosaics and inscriptions from the Quran. The maqsura encloses the area in front of the doors in a set of intricate polylobed interlocking arches, which also serve to bear the weight of the three domes covering this space. No words can possibly convey the esthetic impact of viewing this astounding ensemble, which must be viewed in person to be fully appreciated. The pictures shown here can convey only a pale shadow of the reality. It was the culmination of our visit to the Mezquita and to the fabulous city of Córdoba.
Before leaving the Mezquita, I want to present a few glimpses of some of the detail-work of the walls and arches that has perhaps been neglected elsewhere. These serve as a reminder of the capabilities of the Moorish and Mudéjar craftsmen who built the mosque and continued its maintenance and transformation after the Christians took over, up until they were expelled from Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries.
We exited the Mezquita as we had entered, via the Patio de los Naranjos. As we emerged I caught sight of a young couple making out on the patio, and took a quick shot of them; the muchacho, probably an American, took a shot right back at me with his phone camera.
On our way out of the Patio de los Naranjos, Sandie took four superb photos of the Mezquita’s magnificent Campanario (Bell Tower). This began as a minaret, completed in 958 under the auspices of Abd al-Rahman III, the first Caliph. Although the Christians converted it into a bell tower after the Reconquista of 1236, they made few substantial changes at first, other than to put a cross on top. But in 1589 the tower was badly damaged in a storm, and rather than merely repairing the damage, the authorities decided to redo it in Renaissance style. They entrusted the work to Hernán Ruiz III, the latest member of the dynasty who had begun the new Capilla Mayor. The Ruiz family seem to have been singularly unlucky in completing their projects, since Hernán III, impeded by the neglect of his sponsors to fund his work, died in 1606, leaving it unfinished. The reconstruction was completed under another architect in 1617. But even that was not final; serious flaws in the construction, and further extensive damage storms and earthquakes, ensured that major modifications would continue throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. One significant enhancement, in 1664, involved the placement of a new cupola on top, crowned by a statue of Saint Raphael.
From the Mezquita, we embarked on the final phase of our visit to the wondrous city of Córdoba – an exploration of the Old Quarter. For that, a new post is in order.