Mezquita de Córdoba
The Mezquita de Córdoba is one of those architectural landmarks that I remember perfectly from art and architectural history classes, so I knew I would have to pay a visit. On this day, it turns out that there were services and a funeral scheduled during the day, so tourists could only visit from 5:30 to 7pm. This really reinforced the idea that this is a fully functional house of worship - although one that is Catholic now, not Muslim. In fact, in Google Maps and the official website and ticket office, it's La Santa Iglesia Catedral de Córdoba (antigua Mezquita) - formerly Mosque.
Waiting for the doors to open, I spent much time in El Patio del Naranjos.
Which became full of people also waiting to get in. This was a holiday weekend, and all of the people who wanted to visit on this day all wanted to come in for the same hour and a half. I was quite impressed that the other tourists, just about all Spanish, really lined up. And when the doors opened and everyone rushed forward, there was no pushing or shoving.
Aahh, finally, to see the iconic striped arches! I have a ton of pictures of arches.
At the back of the church is the Maqsura, where there are three domes each filled with architectural details of different designs. You can see in just this one dome, that each of the niches are of a different geometric pattern.
Plop down in the middle of the Mezquita is the Catholic Catedral, constructed under orders from Carlos V. It's amazing to see this building within a building - as a standalone structure it would already be immense.
The Catedral truly functions as its own unit, although there are inevitably some transitions between the original Mezquita and the newer construction.
