Córdoba Mezquita Minaret

Let's take a quick look at the old minaret now called Torre Alminar and the portal next to it that ushers worshipers and tourists alike into the garden.

 The lovely old Moorish town cramps the mosque area and occasionally provides glimpses of the old minaret.


The minaret was built in 951 by Abd er-Rahman III who upgraded the garden as well. Later Christians renovated the tower, adding several tiers of ornamentation and a couple of archangel statues.

A plague of archangels

Abutting the tower, the main entrance gate ushers tourists into the garden. Built in 1377, it’s called the Door of Pardon or Door of Forgiveness, a common designation on Andalusian cathedrals. 

Above the Mudejar arch above, St. Michael, the archangel warrior, looks none-too-warlike as he is framed by rococo baby angels and crowned (like all outside statues) by a pigeon. In Cordoba, Michael is not the primo archangel. That honor goes to Archangel Raphael, Cordoba's patron, who now raises the cross atop the minaret’s tower. Raphael appeared to a local priest in 1578 and named himself the town guardian and promptly saved the place from the plague. (Perhaps Obama could use him for his secretary of Health and Human Services.) Raphael's statue is found on many public monuments in the old city, making Cordoba somewhat unique in that Raphael is somewhat obscure, much less well known than his fellow archangels Michael and Gabriel who appear in nearly every Spanish cathedral. (Gabriel is also an important Islamic figure who conveyed the Qur’an to Muhammad.)

Walking through the Door of Pardon into the garden, visitors pass under this ornate ceiling. Decorative consistency is not a strength of this portal and its abutting tower

 

Let's now walk through this gate into the Orange Patio, the quiet garden that will usher us into the grand mosque.  Please join us by clicking here.

Please join us in the following slide show to give Córdoba the viewing it deserves by clicking here.

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