Due to the city’s increasing population, Abd-ur-Rehman II( الحكم بن هشام) (788 ~852), The son of Emir Al-Hakam I, ordered the Great Mosque of Cordoba to be extended over the years 833 – 848, which resulted mainly in the prayer hall being enlarged to the south. As work progressed, the Mehrab was demolished, and the masonry of the Qibla wall removed, so that eight more bays could be added in an extension to the original building, comprising 11 aisles and 12 bays, as a result, the prayer hall covered a nearly square area of 79.29x69.09 meters (260x227 feet).

Here, we should also mention the capitals, exhaustively examined by Christian Ewert and Patrice Creesier. According to them, not only Roman and Visgothic, but now also Islamic capitals are apparent. These embody a new form, that, in keeping with their epoch, we shall call “emirate period” capitals. Just as with all medieval capitals, those of the emirate period are based on the classical Corinthian type, distinguished by subtle ornamentation that leads to conclude deep chiseling. One can also detect a search for new forms and expressive possibilities, resulting in s formal richness almost unique to this period. Nor is the distribution of these capitals here arbitrary. The central aisles and last bay before the no longer visible Qibla wall contain the best capitals, though the 16th century constructions of the cathedral and its buttresses have greatly impaired their visibility.

Within the original building’s center aisle, the area of the Mehrab is given great emphasis. Whereas the prayer hall normally has the usual red and black alternating marble columns, in the central aisle directly in the front of Mehrab, two white, chamfered marble columns have been placed. Moreover, the columns in the last bay of arcades, ending immediately before the Qibla wall, are adorned with especially splendid capitals. Together with the Mosque’s central axis, oriented on the Mehrab, this emphatically lateral Qibla wall, indicating the direction of prayers, forms the shape of a “T” which explains why commentators refer to it as a “T” type here.

Building work on the Great Mosque of Cordoba by Abd-ur-Rehman III

When Abd-ur-Rehman III (Abd ur-Rehman b. Muhammad b. Abdullah ( الثالث عبدالرحمن )January 11, 889 - October 15, 961) proclaimed himself caliph in 929, he was mainly interested in the palace city, Madina al Zahra (Built 936 – 1010), which is only 8 miles (13 Kilometers) northwest of Cordoba, and which he founded as his empires administrative and government headquarters in 936. Preoccupied by supervising building work in Madina al Zahra, the caliph undertook only relatively unimportant work on the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Thus, he mainly extended the Mosque’s courtyard, which also meant extending the women’s galleries. Moreover, Abd-ur-Rehman III, demolished Hisham I’s minaret, which no longer fulfilled its purpose, and presumably, now failed to meet the community’s needs, and built a new minaret. Abd-ur-Rehman III’s minaret was built on the courtyard’s southern side.

Today it no longer exists, for in the 16^th century the cathedral’s bell tower was erected in its place, and in 17^th century this acquired a Baroque tower. We get a view of Abd-ur-Rehman III’s caliphate period minaret in a 16^th century relief emblem found outside on the Great Mosque’s eastern façade, where it adorns a spandrel on the Mosque courtyard’s eastern entrance portal. The minaret stood on a square surface and comprised two building structures. The lower structure was cubic, and about 75 feet (23 meters) high. The upper structure was shorter and narrower and was used for the “Muezzin” summoning the faithful to prayer. Atop this was a little dome with an arched opening on either side. Al-Maqqari (d. 1631), a text compiler from the Maghreb, saw the original minaret. He memorably describes the minaret’s summit (Yamur) as a vertical pole on which two golden and one silver ball were balanced, a small pomegranate crowning them.

It was the 3rd part of blog on the "Great Mosque of Cordoba." Other parts will be posted soon. Pictures of The Great Mosque can be seen on my page in other blog because I couldn't link the picture gallery with this blog. Some new pictures has been added in picture gallery.

For more information, please visit http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/architecture/thegreatmosquecordoba.html

To view the picture gallery, please click the link below.

http://www.slide.com/r/gLDxdyqWfD8M-41IjQZQ6MQqHVZoQ1zP?previous_view=mscd_em...