Places to Explore
From graceful minarets to gleaming astrolabes, medieval Islam offers a host of treasures
1 AL-AZHAR MOSQUE
With its sweeping white courtyard and towering minarets, the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo is truly a sight to behold. The mosque was founded in 970 in the wake of the Fatimid conquest of Egypt by a general named Jawhar al-Siqilli. It was intended to be the Friday mosque for the city of Cairo, which was chosen as the new capital for the Fatimid Caliphate. It also became a key centre of Islamic learning, with the first seminar taking place here in 976 and the mosque still being attached to the university today. Since its early days, the mosque has undergone many expansions. As you walk into the white courtyard, which forms the original core of Al-Azhar, you’ll find yourself surrounded by arcades of keel-shaped arches that date from the time of the Fatimid caliph Al-Hafiz li-Din Allah in the 12th century. While above you, you’ll see three minarets which were originally built in 1339, 1495, and 1509 and contribute to Cairo’s nickname of ‘the city of a thousand minarets’.
Open every day, although times seem to vary. Free entry.
2 MOSQUE-CATHEDRAL OF CÓRDOBA
Currently in use as a Catholic cathedral, but still popularly known as the ‘Mezquita’ (meaning ‘mosque’), the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba is a unique building that embodies the shifts of power endemic to medieval Spain. Soon after the Umayyad conquest of Spain, Abd al-Rahman I, the first emir of the new state of Al-Andalus, decided to build a mosque here in 786788. The building underwent several later expansions, with eight new naves added to the prayer hall from 833-848 and a towering minaret added in 952, which served as an example for later minarets across the Islamic world. The Mezquita’s life as a mosque came to an end with the Christian conquest of Córdoba in 1236, when it was converted into a cathedral. The minaret became a bell tower and eventually a cathedral nave and transept were inserted into the centre of the complex in the 16th century. Nowadays, visitors can explore many different stages of the Mezquita’s evolution, including Islamic architectural innovations such as the double-tiered arches in the original prayer hall and the richly decorated Mihrab.
Open Mon-Sat 8.30am-6pm, Sun 8:30am-11:30am and 3pm-6pm. Entry €13.
