Architecture sights in Córdoba
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The Mihrab & Maksura
Like Abd ar-Rahman II a century earlier, Al-Hakim lengthened the naves of the prayer hall, creating a new mihrab at the south end of the central nave. The bay immediately in front of the mihrab and the bays to each side form the maksura, the area where the caliphs and their retinues would have prayed (now enclosed by railings).
Inside the mihrab a single block of white marble was sculpted into the shape of a scallop shell, a symbol of the Quran. This formed the dome that amplified the voice of the imam throughout the mosque. The art of the Cordoban caliphate can be seen to have reached maturity here, and many of the intricate decorative effects were carried over into Abd …
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The Patio de los Naranjos & Minaret
The Patio de los Naranjos & Minaret Outside the mosque, the leafy, walled courtyard and its fountain were the site of ritual ablutions before prayer, while the arcaded walls would have seen much of the ancient city's hustle and bustle. The crowning glory of the whole complex was the minaret, which at its peak towered 48m (only 22m of the minaret still survives) and allowed the call to prayer to echo over the city.
Now encased in its 16th-century shell, the original minaret would have looked something like the Giralda in Seville, which was practically a copy. In fact, Córdoba's minaret influenced all the minarets built thereafter throughout the western Islamic world.
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Sinagoga
The beautiful little 14th-century Sinagoga is one of only three surviving medieval synagogues in Spain and the only one in Andalucía. In the late 1400s it became a hospital for hydrophobics. Translated Hebrew inscriptions eroded in mid-sentence seem like poignant echoes of a silenced society.
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