Declared a World Heritage Site, it is the largest monument in the whole of the Islamic west and the third largest mosque in the world.
Observing its façade, with its imposing crenellated walls, it is difficult to imagine the marvels hidden within, marvels that inspired the English author Gerald Brenan to write: “it is the most beautiful and original building in Spain”.
Building was begun in 785 by Ab’d al-Rahman I on the site of the former Visigoth basilica of San Vicente and in the two centuries that followed it was extended by Ab’d al-Rahman II and III, Al-Hakam II and Almansoor. As a result, it shows the evolution of the Caliphate’s art while in the Christian cathedral, built inside the Mosque after the reconquest, we can see examples of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles. It occupies an area of 24,000 m2 and its outstanding forest of dichromatic horseshoe columns and its admirable Mihrab, with gilt Koranic inscriptions and rich mosaics -a gift from the Byzantine Emperor, give the complex, an example of the fusion of Islamic and Greek cultures, an air of magnificence.
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