Begun in 785 AD, the Great Mosque of Cordoba is one of the finest examples of a hypostyle mosque -- a mosque whose roof rests on a series of parallel rows of columns. Oleg Grabar, in The Genius of Arab Civilization, describes the plan of the mosque at Cordoba as simple and flexible, a plethora of columns supporting arcades and covered with a flat roof. The mosque has been preserved because Christian conquerors used the structure as a cathedral rather than destroying it.

The mihrab (a niche in the qibla wall indicating the direction of Mecca) of Cordoba is unusual in design, notes Grabar. This mihrab is a small, windowless room -- a dark and mysterious source of the Divine. The mihrab reportedly was decorated by a mosaicist with 320 bags of mosaic cubes sent to Cordoba by the Byzantine emperor. Many people including architects and craftsmen from all over Andalusia came to help with the project.

In 961, the Caliph al-Hakim had three bays in front of the mihrab transformed into a separate enclave that was reserved for the prince. With a set of structural ribs, the normal spherical space of the mosque's dome was broken down into many planes set at different angles from each other. This multiplication of angles, writes Grabar, gave a comparatively small dome a monumental character and created an illusion of great height.

The dome also features a surface decoration of tesserae and is one of the last major examples of wall mosaics in the Muslim world. The subject matter of these mosaics includes abstract vegetation and simple lines. Grabar writes that these designs may have iconographic meaning - "the vegetal motifs and the rich texture of the decoration my be an imitation of a paradisiac setting, a suggestion of the divine world."

One of the best known monuments of Islamic architecture is the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. In The Genius of Arab Civilization, Grabar describes the Alhambra as a "citadel-city-within-a-city, a complex typical of late medieval Islam."

In the 13th century, the last Muslim dynasty of Andalusia, the Nasrid dynasty, made Granada its capital. The Alhambra became the dynasty's royal city. The word Alhambra comes from the Arabic al-Hamra which means Red Palace. Within the walls of the Alhambra were a mosque, baths, houses, gardens and a royal burial place. Except for the outer walls, the citadel and two large architectural units, little remains of the original construction.

The two architectural units, each with a central open court, form a right angle. At the center of the Court of Myrtles is a long pool. At the center of the Court of Lions is a quadripartite (chahar bagh) garden with a fountain inscribed with references to the warriors of the holy war (jihad). A series of rooms and halls opens onto the courts, either directly or through arcades. The Alhambra was redesigned in the last half of the 14th century by Muhammad V.

Grabar writes that a striking feature of the Court of Lions is the infinite subtlety of its forms. The architectural structures are arranged in a manner that creates fleeting, ever-changing impressions. "Sturdy marble is combined with cheap stucco," Grabar notes. "The design of the court seems almost perfectly symmetrical, but in fact it is modified by axes of composition that do not correspond to the obvious features of the plan..."

Throughout the Alhambra, Grabar continues, open and covered spaces are combined and contrasted according to a system whereby interiors are always in the presence of exterior spaces, with pavilions projecting into open areas. Grabar writes that features that appear dominant during the day appear recessive at night; columns that are brilliantly lighted at night recede during the day to become dark frames around sunlight.

The play of light and dark, the changing impressions, notes Grabar, have a number of interpretations. The setting may metaphorically represent the rotating dome of heaven. Or, the Alhambra may suggest that nothing made or seen by humans is real -- only God is.

For more information go to: Alhambra de Granada