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THE 
ARABIAN 
ANTIQUITIES OF SPAIN. 
PART I. 
A DESCRIPTION OF ANTIQUITIES AT CORDOVA. 
PLATE I. 
PLAN OF THE MOSQUE OF CORDOVA, IN ITS ORIGINAL STATE. 
THIS noble specimen of Arabian Architecture was begun by 
Abdurrahman I. and finished by his son and successor, Hi- 
sham; subsequent khalifs of Cordova enlarged the building 
as often as the increase of population required, until it assumed 
the general form in which it now appears.' The mosque is 
of a quadrangular form, six hundred and twenty feet in length 
from north to south, and four hundred and forty feet in 
breadth from east to west; it was originally surrounded by 
four streets, which were designed to prevent any other build- 
ing from coming in contact with it. Of the twenty-one doors, 
which it is said to have originally had, five only are now 
remaining; they were all covered with brass plates of most 
delicate workmanship. 
Of the six hundred and twenty feet, which compose the 
length of the mosque, two hundred and ten were appropriated 
on the north side, to the formation of a court, communicating 
by means of a gate of modern erection, and known by the 
appellation of the Gate of Pardon. Nineteen aisles, each of 
about three hundred and fifty feet in length, by fourteen feet 
in breadth, run parallel from north to south through the in- 
terior -of the edifice ; and a similar number, not quite so 
broad, extends from     east to west.    These aisles are formed 
by an immense number of columns, the arrangement of which 
produces a most striking effect, that must have been still more 
magnificent, before the building underwent any alterations. 
Explanation of the References in the Plan. 
A. The Maksfira, or sanctuary, that is, the principal apartment in which
the Koran 
was deposited. At present it is a chapel belonging to the Conde de Oropesa,
and is usually called the Zancarron. 
B. The place where the pulpit stood, from which the Mufti explained the law
to the 
Moslems. The pulpit itself, during the time when the mosque was in all its
splendour, was composed of ebony, sandal, aloes, and other most precious
woods. 
* For an historical account of the Mosque at Cordova, the reader is referred
to the "History 
of the Mahometan Empire in Spain," Part I. Chap. V. Sect, 1. pp. 175-183;
where it is de- 
scribed from the narratives of contemporary Arabian writers, who had seen
it in all its splendour. 
C. The lodgings of the priests, and other attendants belonging to the mosque.
They 
are now converted into chapels. 
D. The Mikrfib, or chancel, which was entered only by the Imnms or priests,
and 
other persons engaged in the sacred office. 
E. The part which separated the great men from the rest of the people. 
F. Four columns, in the centre of which the Khalifs took their seats. 
G. The place appropriated to the people. 
H. Additions subsequently made to the edifice. 
I. Doorways or entrances, originally twenty-one in number, according to some
Arabian authors; though others assert that there were not more than nine.
All the doors, however, were covered with the choicest Andalusian brass,
in 
the richest profusion. 
J. The space allotted for the performance of ablutions, previously to entering
the 
mosque. 
K. The Portico, where the Arabians left their babouches, or slippers, when
they en- 
tered the mosque. 
L  The Garden of the mosque. 
M. Fountains. 
N. Cisterns or reservoirs of water. 
The faint line, which goes round the whole plan, exhibits 
its outer wall or boundary,-a low and massive structure, 
crowned with crenated battlements. 
PLATE II. 
PLAN OF THE MOSQUE OF CORDOVA IN ITS PRESENT STATE. 
AFTER the conquest of Cordova in 1236, St. Ferdinand con- 
verted this mosque into a cathedral; and it preserved its 
ancient plan until the time of the Emperor Charles V. In the 
year 1528, the Spaniards began to disfigure its symmetry by 
modern erections, which continued to be made in succeeding 
reigns, in order to convertait more effectually into a temple for 
celebrating the solemn rites of the Christian religion; by which 
injudicious scheme both the Moorish and Christian architec- 
tures are deprived of every thing like unity of design. In vain 
have remonstrances been repeatedly made at different times, by 
the lovers of the arts, nay, even by royalty itself, against these 
misplaced and tasteless alterations. Regardless of these repre- 
sentations, the Chapter of the cathedral have, to the present 
time, persisted in retrenching from the details of the interior, 
or in adding others executed in a totally different style.  Of 
this description is the choir, erected in the centre of the whole