Nov 14 • General discussion
A mosque that became a cathedral — and somehow remained both.
Córdoba’s La Mezquita–Catedral began in 785 CE under the Umayyad dynasty, once the second-largest mosque in the world, rivaling even Mecca in splendor. Centuries later, after the Christian reconquest in 1236, it was consecrated as a Catholic cathedral, and a Renaissance nave was built right through its heart.
Emperor Charles V supposedly said, “You have destroyed something unique to build something commonplace.” Yet standing here, it’s hard to see anything ordinary, only beauty layered upon beauty, faith upon faith.
Islamic arches embrace Christian altars. Arabic calligraphy still frames Latin crosses. It’s as if two worlds decided not to erase each other, but to coexist in stone.
A reminder that history isn’t just about conquest, sometimes, it’s about conversation.
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A mosque that became a cathedral — and somehow remained both.
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