Barcelona

For Slide Show click here

The first time I heard of Barcelona was in 1971. I was ten years old and the first Men's Field Hockey Cup was being played in this Spanish city. The name had a musical ring to it. Those were the romantic days of Pakistan Hockey, Tanvir Dar and Rashid Junior. I remember sitting close to the radio and getting excited on the penalty corners of legendary Tanvir Dar.  Pakistan already had Olympic Gold and Asian Cup at that time and had something like a Triple Crown with this victory. Champions Trophy did not exist at that time.

Pakistan somehow managed to be in Semifinals, beat India and then defeated Spain in the finals. This was the last good news in Pakistan before the civil war in East Pakistan would end the year on a most painful note.

Fast forward to 2012.

Our trip to Spain ended with Barcelona.
We had to rent two cars from the AC Marriott Seville to the airport. It is the same road which we had traveled two days back on the way back from Granada. The ride to the airport was 35 Euro each car, a separate amount was added for the telephone handling.

Barcelona looked like a different country from the rest of Spain. Large, cosmopolitan and vibrant. It felt somewhat the same when I went to Karachi during my second year medical college trip from Multan. Large, bustling, diverse and vibrant. People seem to speak a different language and indeed they do. Majority speak Catalan, although everybody understands Spanish.

Hespera Towers is an elegant hotel, it was the best hotel during our stay. Tipu had perhaps arranged for an upscale hotel as the last stop on our tour. The only drawback was the distance from the city center. It is at the end of a subway train line, and takes about half an hour each way.

We had two nights to stay there and enjoyed every bit of it. The city of Barcelona, for the visitors, revolves around two men. Gaudi and Picasso, a gay conservative architect and a womanizer communist artist, . The two famous landmarks ie  the Guadi's place, Park Guell a Utopian community he tried to built at the northern end of the city and the world largest cathedral, still in the making, Holy Family Cathedral, is Sargada Familia are the everlasting gift of Gaudi to the city.

Park Guell reminds one of Disney, a sort of its predecessor and an actual community. The houses, the park and the community center, all idealistic.

Sargada Familia:
Once built it will perhaps be the largest and longest continuously built church in the world. Started in  1882 it will perhaps finish in 2026 or so. It is a 20-21st century masterpiece. We did not have the time to get inside.   It combines the old Gothic style church building architecture with the modern Gaudi concepts of environment. Many of the statues include the four seasons , the farms, vegetables and the flowers.

There are three facades, each with a theme of its own. Nativity for the Birth of Christ, Passion for the Crucifixion, and The Glory Facade for the ascension to the Heavens.

Nativity

Passion:

One of the controversial statue is the Naked Jesus, For close up check here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasirgondal/7911098734/in/set-72157631361600476/lightbox/

The Ramblas:

But the heart of Barcelona is this mile and a half long strip on foot from to. If you have not gone anywhere in the city but take the walk down and up the Ramblas, you have visited the essence of the city. It is one of those stories where the once the worst part of the city gets turned into the most colorful sites. It was the draining pipelines of the city wall and were renovated to form a walkway around it and here it is.

We got off at the station Catalunya. Coming out in the open, there is a big central garden full of fountains, statues,  pigeons and people, Placa de Catalunya.

 A very lively place.
Ramblas is one of many streets which start or end up here. It is like a big circular center. All big stores are here, FNAC, Zara,El Corte Ingles. Cafe Zurich is a nice place to have coffee. We had Saleem's birthday in Hard Rock Cafe here on the second day.

Walking down the Ramblas is traveling through Barcelona in full color. You see everything city is famous for. People of every color and creed, with kiosks lining the boulevard, jugglers playing, artists painting, beggars begging, musicians and dancers performing and onlookers ogling.

Fountain of youth known as Fountain of Canaletes is just south of Catalunya. Legend says that a drink form it ensures a return trip to Barcelona.

Farmers market, La Boqueria is an interesting place. I bought dates from an Asian vendor.

At the end of it is once again Columbus. His towering monument, where he is looking at the waters. Although it was here that he returned from his first trip to the New World, but the future successes in the Americas meant less importance for Barcelona and more for the western ports like Seville  for the future returning vessels.

Beyond the monument is the large shopping area in the Waterfront..



Next day we took the bus trip of the city and it took us to the Gaudi city. This is the architect's own version of a Utopian place, It is on a hill and on looks the city and the Holy Family Cathedral  the most famous art piece of Gaudi. One of his tiles reminded me of Multan.

Picasso's life had quite a few years of Barcelona, His house is now Picasso's museum in the old city. It was a long line and we could not go in there. At the end of that corner is the church of sailors ie Santa Maria Church.

Many Indians and Pakistanis in here. From cab drivers to street vendors. I did not find much of us in Andalusia.

And the next day we left Spain for Geneva.

Sweet memories. Words of Iqbal on his way back from Spain say it well.

ہسپانیہ تو خون مسلماں کا امیں ہے

 مانند حرم پاک ہے تو میری نظر میں 

پوشیدہ تیری خاک میں سجدوں کے نشاں ہیں 

خاموش اذانیں ہیں تیری باد سحر میں 

غرناطہ بھی دیکھا مری آنکھوں نے و لیکن 

تسکین مسافر نہ سفر میں نہ حضر میں 

دیکھا بھی دکھایا بھی سنایا بھی سنا بھی 

ہے دل کی تسلی نہ نظر میں نہ خبر میں 

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References:

1. http://www.asian-women-magazine.com/pakistan/hockey/barcelona-world-cup-1971.php
2. Rick Steve;s Spain 2012
3. http://www.allamaiqbal.com/

Masjid-e-Qurtuba, The Lament of Andalusia

رثـــــاء  الأنـــدلــس

حيث المساجد قد صارت كنائسَ ما      فـيـهنَّ  إلا نـواقيسٌ وصُـلبانُ

حتى  المحاريبُ تبكي وهي جامدةٌ      حـتى الـمنابرُ ترثي وهي عيدانُ

Where the mosques have become churches,

Where only bells and crosses may be found

Even the mihrabs weep

Though they are solid,

Even the pulpits mourn

Though they are made of wood

al rundi

13th century

For Slide Show Click Here



Masjid e Qurtuba was the last stop we had for Cordoba, and hence the last place I visited related to Muslim Andalus. All of us build up an image in our minds when we have a lifetime hearing about it. That image may be quite different from what it is in reality. Similar was my experience about the Masjid. My initial impression was," I expected something different!" No dome, gunbad, no high ceilings and the mosque was DARK. Then the direction of the qibla  and the privileged priority seating of the royal family, with a separate entrance. All of this was quite difficult to overcome. But during the tour, the majesty of it weighed on me slowly and by the end of the tour, I had to make one round again, on my own, to reflect on it. And reflected I indeed, trying to absorb the image of the mosque as it would have been in the days when faithful flocked it and answered the call of the muezzin.



And since coming back and reflecting on it, and reading about it, the image and the grandeur of the Mosque has only magnified.

It is indeed a work of art, love, dedication and faith. The idea of the mosque was to make the faithful transcend time and space and take him far off away to the never-to-return oasis of Syria, Damascus, in the middle of a desert, and sure it does that.

تیرا جلال و جمال مرد خدا کی دلیل 

وہ بھی جلیل و جمیل ، تو بھی جلیل و جمیل 

تیری بنا پائیدار ، تیرے ستوں بیشمار
شام کے صحرا میں ہو جیسے ہجوم نخیل 

The guide took us to the mosque in the end of the city tour; he wanted the best for the last. By that time we had visited the Alcazar, the streets and patios of Cordoba, the Horse yards, the Inquisition halls and the statues of sons of Cordoba. We entered through the Northwest door, and what we see is a big courtyard with palm trees. It used to be the courtyard where the faithful would have performed the wuzu,  the ablution before entering the mosque proper. You see the  minar, now a Belfry like the other towers of mosques, at the northern end. The walls of of the courtyard had the pieces of the ceiling wood. Looking at the building of the mosque from the courtyard you see a big square protrusion in the middle of the roof. That is what I realized later on, was the cathedral in the middle of the mosque.  

And then we entered the masjid proper. It was strange, a sense of hesitancy  Here I am entering one of the greatest mosques in the history, and everyone, including myself, is entering with their shoes on. Our emotions run high when a non Muslim enters, even inadvertently, to our mosques with shoes on. They should know better, etc etc. Now I am doing the same! To my surprise, I did not feel enraged, I somehow accepted it and convinced myself ie this is not a mosque anymore and faithful had themselves handed over the keys of the city and the mosque to the Christians almost 900 years back, June 29th, 1236 to be exact.





It is not clear to me whether anyone has ever prayed in this mosque after that day. I am not sure about the story behind Iqbal's picture praying namaz which sitting (qaida)  in the masjid, but in 2010 Austrian Muslims tried to pray in the mosque and were arrested.

 

 

 

 



Floor Plan

Floor plan

QIBLA'S DIRECTION:

As soon as we entered the mosque, the guide explained the direction of the qibla and the reason, as he thought, of it not facing Mecca. It bothered me then and it bothers me now, although there are more than one 'logical' reasons to explain that. (guide's and otherwise)

 The true direction of qibla from Cordoba is 100 degree East. Doubt that the Abdur Rahman I would not have known that. So far I have heard and read a few theories about it.

1. It was built on a Roman Visigoth church, and the construction of the church demanded the layout to be the way it was ie that the naves should be north south and not east west. . This was narrated by our tour guide.
2. Abdur Rahman wanted to imitate and surpass the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus, and as the Qibla is south from Damascus, he replicated it in Cordoba. That is mentioned by some orientalists. Not to forget that the direction of the original mosque, Masjid-e-Nabwi, the Prophet's Mosque is facing south. So in a way the Cordoba Mosque, like the Damascus Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, would face south. 
3. Maliki school of thought allowed a greater latitude in the qibla being away from the right direction, so it was okay.
4. Hakam II, to whom is the credit for the magnificent Mehrab,  had a chance to redirect the qibla. He refused, stating that his creed is to obey and follow, mazhabuna ittiba'

The other issue which bothered me was that there is a separate section for the royal family, with a separate entrance.  Here again it is stated that Hakam II tried to recreate the ambiance of the Prophet's Mosque, where the household is nearby and almost within the mosque.

I do not know whether it was a custom in the early centuries of Islam, but we grew up with this concept of mosque being the great equalizer and who so ever comes first occupies the front rows. 

HISTORY OF EXPANSION:

As you see the floor plan, the mosque has undergone many expansions. The original mosque of Abdur Rahman I was what is now the north west part of the complex. Later Abdur Rahman II expanded in the direction of the qibla and doubled the size of the mosque. Abdur Rahman III made the tower and make some changes.

Later Hakam II extended it further south, and mehrab was once again erected. The most beautiful section of the mosque. Fine work, with artisans commissioned loaned/forcibly asked from Byzantine christian land, and plenty of gold etc. More on it later. 

The fourth expansion was by Al Mansur across the whole length of the mosque and the courtyard. It just expanded the size of the mosque as he, like many of his predecessors wanted to etch his name in the history as one of those who expanded the mosque.

With this final expansion, the Qurtuba Mosque became the largest mosque of the world in its time. Maliki tradition made it obligatory for the faithful to congregate in one central mosque for Friday Prayers, even when the city population had increased. It was one of the main reasons of continual expansion.

On a Friday prayer there would be 600,000 congregants  The size was 250,000 square feet, quite large even by today's standard. Faisal Mosque's covered area is 54,000 sq ft.

Now the cathedral which sits inside it, has no more than 20 to fifty parishioners on a Sunday. 

DIFFERENCES FROM THE DAMASCUS MOSQUE:

Although the plan of Damascus was imitated, there were two main differences. One was the height of the arches, it was higher in Cordoba, and the second was the alignment of the columns. In Damascus the columns are parallel to the wall of Qibla. In Qurtuba, it was perpendicular to the wall of Qibla, which is the tradition of Visigoth church it replaced. Most of the churches have this alignment ie from the door of the church to the other end.

PRAYER HALL:
The walls are original, as old as 1200 years old. It is quite a marvel. The roof and the floor are not original any more, Many of the roof wood is hanging outside in the courtyard for display.

As soon as you enter the main hall, they want to make sure that you see the relics of the original Visigoth Roman church, which is buried under the floor of the mosque. They have glass on the floor and you can see a part of the original church.

WHY THE MOSQUE WAS BUILT ON THE CHURCH?
Vatican has a simple explanation. It was the holiest place in the city and the invaders, ie Muslims occupied it and made their own church on top of the demolished church. Muslim historians do not deny the preexistence of the church on the site. They claim that for a long while the Muslims prayed in the church along with the christian, in the same tradition as Muslims did initially in Jerusalem (and in fact in Medina). It was later when Abdur Rahman I decided to create a monument of a definite transition in history that the church was bought. Christians were given enough money to build a church at a different location.

COLUMNS:



The columns are double arches, the bottom one is a typical Andalusian horseshoe arch and the top one is a semicircular arch. The repeated pattern of red and white gives a strange and stark feeling. these are different stones, ie red bricks and beige stones. Esp if one is able to imagine the endless columns without the Cathedral sitting in the middle of the mosque, Then it would have been a lot of light and one could see across the whole length and diagonally across the hall.

MEHRAB:
The acoustics of the mehrab was phenomenal. It with a separate dome of its own, converted the box of the mehrab into a living microphone. Without the aid of modern speaker system, it was a marvel in it self that the  faithful in the last row was able to hear the Imam during the sermon and the prayers.

COURTYARD:
This is perhaps the area closest to its original form, and when one enters the mosque through this, one gets the feeling of being inside something holy. It was supposed to be filled with orange trees and was uses as the area for ablutions. Now it has tall palms and offers a serene area to reflect.

THE FALL OF CORDOBA:
when the Moors, ( and by this time it were not the Ummayads, or the Al Murabitoon or the Almuwahids, but the taifa rulers,  petty states, of Cordoba) finally agreed to open the door of the city, they prayed in the mosque for the final  time, Fajr of June 29, 1236.. The invader, Ferdinand III of Castile, who later earned papal sainthood and became the Saint Ferdinand, San Ferdinando, did not enter the mosque for quite a while.

The mosque was washed and cleansed of the infidels and consecrated. Then the King Ferdinand entered and was immediately enamored by the thing of beauty he saw. A part of the mosque was declared the church and services were offered there.

For a long time, the elite and the rulers of the area felt privileged enough to be buried inside the mosque, and one sees many of the graves inside the mosque.

Three centuries later, in 1532 the clergy was influential enough in convincing the King Charles V, who had never seen the mosque to build a cathedral in the place of the mosque. He allowed it and the center of the mosque was demolished to make the cathedral. Later when the King arrived to see the progress, he is claimed to have said, that you have replaced what was exceptional with what is ordinary. He decided the cathedral not to be larger than what was already built and the rest of the mosque structure was left intact. So is it today.

CATHEDRAL:



If for a minute one does not think of it in religious terms, the cathedral is pretty beautiful. It offers the contrast of what a mosque and a church are similar in and are different about. It sits in the middle of the mosque, and the layout is east west axis.

TREASURY:
Next to the mehrab is the treasury where some important artifacts are placed.
There used to be a treasury in the times of Ummayads and reportedly the four pages of Quran drenched in blood, when Caliph Usman was killed, were displayed here. Ummayads had strong sense of destiny as the bearers of Quran as one of them, Usman was the first to compile the Quran in one book form and ironically he was killed while reading Quran. It is not clear to me where those relics are, but now the treasury, rebuilt by Christians is their museum of conquest.





It includes the painting of the Moors giving away the city keys to Ferdinand, It has the famous Christ  which is taken out every year in the procession.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasirgondal/7981477792/sizes/z/in/set-72157632530655915/
There is a Christ statue made out of one long piece of ivory, which is perhaps the biggest single ivory statue of Christ.



OFFICIAL GRAFFITI:
Many of the original carpenters have left their names inscribed and they are on the display. One can see the names Masood, etc etc.

اے حرم قرطبہ ! عشق سے تیرا وجود 

عشق سراپا دوام ، جس میں نہیں رفت و بود 

ا

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References:

1. Ibn Arabi
2. The meaning of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in the tenth century
3. The Legacy of Muslim Spain
4. The Great Mosque of Cordoba
5. Iqbal Urdu
6. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/01/muslim-catholic-mosque-fight
7. http://www.qibladirection.com/qibladirection_Maps.aspx#GotoMap

Cordova, Once There Was

For slideshow click here.

Lying within the wrap of  alwadi alKabir the river, is the pearl of Cordova. The seat of the power, knowledge, wisdom, and wealth of Muslim Andalusia. Where sages pondered, poets wrote, nightingales sang, and beauty walked.

While Granada was the second lease on Muslim rule in Spain, the zenith of Moors and Islamic Spain was Cordoba. This was the center of Muslim Spain.  It was here that the Berbers captured in 711 and made a provincial capital of the Damascene Ummayad Caliphate in 716. Later when the Banu Abbas massacred the Bani Ummaya,  the lone survivor, Abdur Rahman I escaped to al Andalus. He founded the Emirate of Andalusia, Amarat-al Andalusia in 766. Much later, when there was a threat of Fatimid invasion of the Iberian peninsula the Ummayads declared a separate caliphate of their own Khilafatul Qurtuba, under Abdur Rahman III in 929. Perhaps this was the first and only time when the world had three caliphates, Abbasi, Fatimi and Ummayah. It was perhaps the second time that an Umayyad  declared a parallel caliphate in the presence of an existing Banu Hashim caliphate. First one would be Amir Muawiyah.

One of the seven gates of Cordoba, Puerto de Almodavar



The rule of Bani Ummayah (the Emirate and Caliphate combined) lasted for three centuries. As usual, the downfall of the Banu Ummayah was none other than the infighting and the futile wars of succession.  In 1031, the caliphate denigrated into several city states taifas.  The warring taifas, under threat of a Christian invasion, asked their co-coreligionists in Marrakesh, the al Murabitun, Almoravids for intervention, who complied. They were face covering puritanics,  the most famous being Yusuf Bin Tashfeen. He reestablished the formal relationship with Baghdad calling the Caliph Amirul Momeneen  he chose for himself the title of Amir ul Muslemeen.  He lived for more than a century. His successors were succeeded by even more conservative al Muwwahids, Almohads. For reasons un-researched by me, they moved the capital away from Cordoba to Seville.  Decisively defeated in 1212 by a coalition of Catholic kingdoms the Almohads retreated to North Africa leaving al Andalus to feeble taifas to defend for themselves. Qurtuba finally succumbed to the Catholics in 1236. After its fall to the La Reconquesta  the city slowly lost its name, fame and population. It got reduced to become and still remains a small provincial city. Although from time to time it has tried to be the political or cultural capital of European Union.

Cordoba was the worlds most populous city at the turn of the first millennium with the population around half a million at that time. After Baghdad, which had a population of about a million (much later in 1258) when it fell to the Mongols, Cordoba was perhaps the most glorious Muslim capital in its history which fell to the Infidels.  (Delhi was about a hundred thousand in 1857)

No matter what the revisionist historians claim about the pre-Islamic legacy of Cordoba, the golden age of Cordoba was under Muslims. Similarly, the pinnacle of Muslim rule in Andalusia was none other than Cordoba.

It was here in Cordoba that the Jewish 'Golden Age' flourished. The Umayyads of Cordoba were magnanimous enough to realize the potential of the diversity and used it to their advantage. There was a conducive atmosphere for art and education. Artisans, writers, thinkers and scientists flourished. Jews, and some may claim that the Christians themselves, never had it better under any other rule.  Yes, the Muslims made sure no church tower was higher than the mosque minaar, but the nurturing environment led to the human development space which created the giants like Maimonides and Averroes.

The city is within the curve of the river, al wadi al kabeer,  now known as Guadalquivir River.



We were able to have a full day tour to Cordoba from Seville and back. It was to be on a Wednesday but was cancelled due to an event in the Mosque/Cathedral and we went there on a Friday.

The tour guide was a friendly guy. The tourism industry in general have smelled the roses and mastered the art of providing seemingly objective information to the tourists. They do not hide the atrocities of the Christian rulers and are able to explain and elaborate upon the Moorish rule and culture. In fact this is their main sale item and they do cash it well.

THE THREE NECESSARY STOPS:
Like everywhere in Spain, Cordoba has at least three places to visit. A house of worship which is almost always a  mosque turned into cathedral, a military/royal place in the form of a fort an Alcazar and Juderia, the Jewish quarters repopulated and always a lucrative real estate. It was perhaps their wealth and the lack of a security guarantee through Moors (after the fall of Granada in 1492) which made it very tempting to throw them out and have their property and houses seized.

ALCAZAR:



The Alcazar in Cordoba is now a beautiful garden with long rows of flowers and hedges, and the monuments.

There is perhaps no place in Spain without a mention of Christopher Columbus and the Christian Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand. Cordoba is no exception. A monument in the Alcazar reminds us that out of many conversations Columbus held with the monarchs pleading to have a trans Atlantic voyage sponsored,  one was in Cordoba.




Cordoba has another important connection with the New World. It was the money of the expelled Jews of Cordoba, confiscated in 1492 after the fall of Granada the same year, which  made the Columbus voyage sponsorable. As per our guide, the Discovery of America is much more indebted to the loss of coexistence in Spain that we much think of.






SPANISH INQUISITION:

This was the Spain's Catholic Monarch's response to the diversity they inherited from the Muslim. In certain areas the Jews and Muslims were already ordered to convert and there were suspicions that the convertees ie the  conversos  were secretly harboring their original faith. So these summary courts were held, where the confessions were obtained, usually by torture and force, and people were summarily punished. Many ended up in being killed or burned alive. One of the areas of Alczar was allocated for Inquisition. Now it is converted into a church and a museum, where some old Roman relics are displayed.



______________________________________





PATIOS OF CORDOBA:
The patio rooms and windows of Cordoba are famous for their elaborate decoration. A custom adopted from Moors, who had a habit of having a small garden within the courtyard, as a constant reminder of Paradise, the Cordobans vie with each other to excel in the annual competition they have in spring.









THE SYNAGOGUE  LA SINAGOGA:


Built during the Christian era, this is a unique example of changing time. After the fall of Muslim Cordoba in 1236 and the eventual expulsion of Jews in 1492, their stay in the city was a mixed bag. In the later part of Muslim rule under the Almohads the life of Jewry was difficult and many including Maimonides fled, The Christians rule brought with it some tolerance for Jews and they were welcomed for their financial resources. It was in that time that the synagogue was built. Its work is essentially Moorish, done by the Mudejar (Muslim artisans) and has four walls of work. Later, when the intolerance led to their forced conversion and ultimate expulsion, this was converted to a church and one sees the Cross over the Star of David.



ANDALUSIAN HORSES:

Cordoban horses are also known as Pure Spanish Horse. They are different from the Arabian horses, a bit stocky, compact and thick maned. America was conquered by Spaniards on these horses. The Native American thought of the man mounted on the horse as one big scary creature and were awed by them.



Next, the Sages and Lovers of Cordoba, and then The Masjid-e-Qurtuba


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Reference:
Rick Steve's Spain 2012
http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm
http://www.ghadar.in/gjh_html/index.php?q=node/35
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition
http://imh.org/history-of-the-horse/breeds-of-the-world-by-continent/europe/andalusian.html

The Remains of Seville's Almohad Mosque

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasirgondal/sets/72157631735443202

Also known as

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See

Catedral de Santa María de la Sede

Imagine yourself in a mosque with a huge expansive space: a three acres big hall, a nave with 16 aisles and 13 bays, with its transept having domes ceiling, a large mehrab facing south, and a minbar on the left of it. Outside the hall is a courtyard, sehn, with many citron trees, cypresses, palms, lemon and orange trees and a central fountain uses for ablution. At the North wall there is a door,with its typical Andalusian arch. On the East side outside the wall is the tallest Minar in the whole Almohad territory, encompassing Al Andalus and Morocco. 

The Minar is so big that instead of stairs it has ramps around it, 35 of them, gently inclined, so that the Muezzin could ride up on the horse five times a day to call the faithful to prayers. 

Abu Yaqub Yusuf must have felt thrilled in having this marvelous building among his earthly achievements. Every Friday prayers his name would be mentioned by the Imam. A captured image of Virgin Mary was somewhere in the mosque as a trophy of a war with the Catholics. 

It served as the Aljamia Mosque of Seville for less than a century as Seville was conquered in 1248. It was then, like all other mosques was consecrated as a church. 

The Mehrab, aka Antigua Chapel:
The conquerors must have viewed the Mehrab as the most coveted place and put a fresco of Virgin Mary, holding Baby Christ in her left hand and a rose in her right hand. The Baby Christ is holding a bird in his hand. This was considered a real blessed spot for the sailors later who went to voyages around the world from Seville. It came to be known as the Antigua Chapel. Columbus got the inspiration form this icon to name the island in the Caribbean after it.

The Minar was such a point of pride for the Muslims that they wanted to raze it to ground before leaving the city rather than giving it away to the Christians. Alfonso X, son of Ferdinand III, threatened to kill all the Moorish population of the city if they did that. Minar was thus retained and made taller as with bells and now serves as the signature landmark for the city of Seville. It served as an inspiration for the Tower of Madison Square Garden II, in New York City, which was later demolished. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Madison-square2.jpg

After using the mosque as a church for a century and a half, someone decided to raze it to the ground and built the largest cathedral of the country in its place. It took them a century to build it, the present day Cathedral of Virgin Mary. A few things they did not touch. The mehrab now known as the Antigua Chapel with the Virgin Mary ensconced in it, was left in its place. The Minar, now known as Giraldo was left and so was the courtyard with its outer walls and the door. 

Later on, right next to the old mehrab, the elevated tomb of Columbus carried by four statues representing four areas of Spain, was installed where perhaps once the Mimbar stood and the Imam gave Friday sermons. 

Next to the Minar is the Royal Chapel where you have the open view body of Saint Ferdinand, the king who conquered Cordoba and Seville. You also see the statue of him on the horse taking the city keys from the subdued Muslim King.

Some how I could appreciate this building and the former mosque better than the Cordoba Mosque, which I cover in a different post. Here I could visualize the mosque as a whole in my mind, as to where the dar-o-deewar and the minbar-o-mehrab could be. I could imagine hearing the call of Azaan, the faithful responding and entering through the door, and performing ablutions in the central courtyard; the Caliph walking from the Alcazar right outside the Minar and entering it from the eastern side. 

And then I can fully appreciate the cathedral in its grander as it is build on a large space with the tallest nave in Spain. Its choir, treasury (carrying supposedly Jesus's body parts) and all the different alters. I could see the mosque as a whole and the cathedral as a whole, something one cannot do while in Cordoba Mosque.

I assume it is the least known piece of Muslim architecture in Spain; it houses the largest cathedral in Spain and is the final resting place of two most important individuals in Spanish history, The King/Saint Ferdinand III who conquered Cordoba and Seville, and Cristobal Colon' also known as Christopher Columbus.

Much of what I state here is my imagination and conjecture as there is quite incomplete information available, or at least I was unable to get it so far.

When Almovids took over Al Andalus after the Ummayads and Almovarids, Seville was their regional capital. Their seat of government was in Morocco, same as of Almovarids. Somewhere in early 12th century the rules must have thought of having their own signature mosque. I do not know when the mosque was commissioned and how did it look. Some say in 1172 it was started and  Ahmed bin Basso was the architect There is an inscription which says that the Minar, the Giraldo was completed at the time of the incarnation of  Abu Yaqub Yusuf.  There is one artistic rendition of the mosque in the works of Professor Piechotta.  (on Page 11).  The size of the mosque was about half of the Qurtuba Masjid .

It was eventually destroyed in 1401. Seville was conquered in 1248. Cathedral was built over 100 years 1402 -1506 but as the cathedral was built on the whole rectangular base, it is much larger, it is the largest in the country.

The door which is where you would have entered when it was a mosque; now that is the last point of the visit and one walks out of this, sometimes without noticing the original door. I noticed the door and the artwork on it later at night when Zoha and I were having a cup of coffee on the Calle Alemanes ie the street lining the North wall.

اللھما انی اسالک من فضلک وا رحمتک 

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Reference:
1.Travels of a fifteen century German traveler to Spain.
http://munzerama.blogspot.com/2011/06/munzer-in-seville-hispalis-nov-4-1494.html
2. http://www.depts.ttu.edu/mcnair/PDF/Jessica.M.Gomez.pdf