al otro lado: La Ruinas y La Mezquita

the ruins, stretching out on the hill

The next day we went to Madinat Al-Zahra, which were ruins from the 10th century. When the muslims (los moros) ruled in Andalucia before the christian "conquest" their capitol was right outside of what is now Cordoba. The group explored around this ancient city, looking at old ovens, beautiful arches, and imagining what glorious splendor it would have looked like when all the colors were still there.

Lisa, illegally climbing on the ruins

Right after the ruins we went to La Mezquita. La Mezquita has become my favorite historical building I've entered in all my time here in Spain. Wow. First off, it used to be one of the biggests mezquitas for muslims to worship in, but again, after the christian 'conquest,' a silly king decided to build a cathedral in the middle of the mezquita, which was nice because generally they just destroyed everything that the muslims built, but then again, there's a beautiful building with a cathedral sticking out of it.

When I turned the corner from entering from outside my breath got knocked out of me. I was standing in what looked like something from Lord of the Rings: something ridiculously huge, cold, medieval, and fantastical. It seemed to go on forever and ever. The archetecture of the Mezquita was amazing: large archeways, entricate carvings, but the thing that struck me the most was the harsh contrast between the mezquita and the cathedral. You're wondering around this maze of columns, and then BAM, you're in the middle of a gothic cathedral, surrounded by gold, a huge tower reaching up and up. It was very obvious to me the difference between the religion. When one enters a mezquita, everyone is equal, titles don't matter, only worship, hence the mezquita was grand, one floor, stretching out to hold everyone. The church, reaching up and up, gave the sense of heirarchy, power, and influence, class status, and money. Quite a difference, huh?