Comparing Religious Architecture

Comparing Religious Architecture

The three pieces of architecture I have chosen for this exercise are the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Cordoba, Spain, the San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, and the Orvieto Cathedral in Orvieto, Italy. I will describe each building, the reason I chose each one, and how it represents its religion. The Great Mosque of Cordoba is an Islamic Mosque, the San Vitale is an Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Orvieto Cathedral is a Catholic church.

My first architectural monument is the Great Mosque of Cordoba, which I chose simply for its beauty. Just looking at the pictures is mesmerizing and I could almost visualize myself there. I found it very hard to choose just three pictures to share with you. I also chose this Mosque because it had been expanded on three times by later rulers, but the basic formula of it was maintained in each addition (archnet.org, 2007). Cordoba was conquered by Ferdinand III King of Castile in 1236 C.E. and a decision was made in 1523 to build an entire Gothic chapel into the heart of the Great Mosque (archnet.org, witcombe.sbc.edu, 2007).

The Great Mosque of Cordoba was built during the reign of Abed al-Rahman I, who escaped from Syria to the Iberian Peninsula after his family was massacred by a rival political dynasty (archnet.org, 2007). Abed al-Rahman I founded a dynasty in Spain where Muslims were already established and chose Cordoba as his kingdom's capital. The Great Mosque of Cordoba began between 784-786 C.E. (islamicarchitecture.org, 2007). The Mosque "was built on a Visigothic site, which may have also been the site of an earlier Roman Temple" (archnet.org, 2007).

The Great Mosque of Cordoba's original prayer hall was about 260x138 feet, with 11 aisles arranged perpendicular to the Qibla wall. The center aisle is 26 meters wide, which is about 3 feet wider and slightly higher than the other aisles, which are 23 feet wide (Islamicarchitecture.com, 2007). This is called a directional type of mosque because of the emphasis that has been put on the center aisle. The prayer hall is one thing that makes this Mosque representative of the Islamic religion. However, it does not have a minaret, which is where the calls to prayer usually come from. Instead, "Arabic sources state that the calls to prayer were made from the tower of the government palace" (Islamicarchitecture.org, 2007).

The next architectural monument I will discuss is the San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. This is an Eastern Orthodox Church and