Must-SeeSight · Sacred SitePaidRainy Day

Mosque–Cathedral

The Great Mosque of Córdoba, a forest of 850 columns and striped arches, with a Renaissance cathedral rising in its middle.

Official Website

Photo: Toni Castillo Quero · CC BY-SA 2.0

Open: Every day; closed to visitors during Sunday morning mass
Price: Paid; separate tickets for the bell tower and the night show
Time Needed: 2 hours
Address: Calle Cardenal Herrero 1, 14003 CórdobaDirections
Getting There: In the Jewish quarter, a 5-minute walk from the Roman Bridge.

Why Go

Abd al-Rahman I began the mosque in 785, and his successors enlarged it until it covered more than two hectares. Its double arches of red brick and white stone stand on columns of marble, jasper and granite, many taken from Roman buildings, and the gold-mosaic mihrab of the 960s is a masterpiece of Islamic art.

After the Christian conquest it became a cathedral, and in the 16th century a soaring nave was built in the center. You can climb the bell tower, built around the old minaret.