UMAYYAD ARCHITECTURE (661M-

976M)

The Great Palace Of Al-hambra

The Great Mosque Of Cordova
 Introduction
Muawiyah Bin Abu Abdul Malik Bin Malik Umar Bin Abdul Aziz Hisyam Bin Abdul Malik
Sufyan (685-705M) (717-720M) (724-743M)
(661-680M)

DAMASCUS

SPAIN

Abdul Rahman I Abdul Rahman II Abdul Rahman III Abdul Rahman IV

(756-788M) (822-825M) (912-961M) (961-976M)
Territory
Significant Building During Umayyad Period

Great mosque of damascus-

Syria

Dome of the rock- Great Mosque Cordoba-Spain

Jerusalem

Al-aqsa mosque-Jerusalem Al-Hambra palace- Spain

 ALHAMBRA
PALACE,
SPAIN
IT IS THE MOST FAMOUS EXAMPLE OF THE
ISLAMIC INFLUENCE IN SPAIN.

ERAZ AQILAH BINTI TAJUL EDRUS

MINA AAINAA BINTI MOHD SANUSI
NUR IZYAN BINTI OTHMAN
CHRONOLOGY OF ISLAMIC
SPAIN
 636-700 rapid expansion of islam following Muhammad’s
wafat.
 756 -the arrival of prince Abdul Al Rahman in Spain from
Morocco as the soul surviving member of the Umayyad
Dynasty of Damascus.
 1238- The Alhambra was begun. It was built on the hill
Sabikah for defensive reasons. Ibn
al-ahmar founded the
Nasrid Dynasty, and has
built the Alhambra.
 Islam was spread rapidly
into West Asia , North
Africa and finally to Spain.
HISTORY
 Alhambra is an ancient arab fortress located on the hills close
to Granada
 Alhambra : The Red one (red colour of the walls around
Alhambra.
 Its principal architectural form was the mosque, which in the
early days of the religion was a simple hypostyle hall oriented
to Mecca.
 The Umayyad caliphs in Spain made Cordoba its capital and
erected a splendid mosque there.
 Cordoba is the new center in Spain
 Alhambra is first and foremost a fortification, defined by a
defensive wall.
SITE PLAN OF ALHAMBRA
 ARMORY
•define by a
defensive wall by
towers and gate ARAB BATHS PALACE COMPLEX
PALACE OF
• was heavily CHARLES V
fortified with a
watch tower
GATE OF JUSTICE
(BAB AL-SHARI’A)
• 2nd enterance
PALACE COMPLEX
COURT OF THE
MYRTLES

COURT OF THE
LIONS
 The palace enterance is Bab al-Ghadur,
rename by christians the Gate of the Seven
Floors
 The 2nd enterance, Bab al-Shari’a renamed the
Gate of Justice.
 a dense network of rooms
 mediated by airy gardens with pools of water
 Water – significant of luxury
 The Alhambra’s design is exquisitely simple:
basic square-shaped building with courts.
 Any extension was connected by a passage.
The true visual joy is when you walk into the
 COURT OF THE MYRTLES
For sovereign and
entourage
 COURT OF THE LIONS
 for public
ceremonials
 four channels of water,
representing the four rivers
of Paradise declared in the
Quran
 columnar portico
surrounding the courtyard
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS
Increadible richness of decoration
> MOJALICAS

ARABESQUES
, seen all over
the wall of
alhambra

geometry, floral
pattern
COURTYARD-a transitional area between WATER ELEMENT-architecture &
the administrative section of the royal nature are fused so harmoniously
precinct and the Palace of Comares

Court of the Lions

MATERIAL (Stained glass)- The mysterious light that
filters today through the window of the throne room
•MUQARNAS dome, seen in hall of
Two Sisters.
•Every known honeycomb pattern
is used in the ceiling design, which
comprises 5000 cells.

FLOOR , the square is paved

with
coloured tile sand the colonnade
with white marble.
The Great Mosque Of Cordoba
(784)
The Great Mosque Of Cordoba
 The site originally a Pagan Temple, then
a Visigoth Christian church, Church of St. Vincent during years 600
 Then the Umayyad moors come and converted the building into the
mosque and then build a mosque on the site.
 The one of the most accomplished monuments of Islamic
architecture
 After the Spanish Reconquista, it once again became a Roman
Catholic church
 Great Mosque of Cordoba was begun between 784 and 786 during
the reign of 'Abd al-Rahman I
Architectural features
 Square and rectangular plans
 Hypostyle prayer hall
 Double arches construction
 Horseshoe arches (originally from visigoth architecture –
arches without keystone)
 Courtyard
 Alternating red and white voussoirs (Inspired from dome
of the rock)
 Use Ashlar construction
THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA
AERIAL VIEW
Stages extension of the mosque .
Spatial
 Architectural
element

Elevated view of mosque with sixteenth

century cathedral inserted at center. Court
of Oranges seen in the lower foreground

Court of Oranges, elevated view

from north with courtyard portal to
prayer hall
 Architectural element

 The system of columns

supporting double
arcades of piers and
arches with alternating
red and white voussoirs
is an unusual treatment
that, structurally,
combined striking visual
effect with the practical
advantage of providing
greater height within the
hall.
Interior view of the prayer hall, looking Interior view of the maqsura,
through the maqsura towards Qibla showing polylobed arches before
wall the qibla wall (to the right)

Interior view of the maqsura; mihrab.
Mihrab chamber is seen through the
archway
Interior view of the maqsura; ribbed
vault before door to the right (west)
of mihrab (Bab al-Amir)
interior view of the maqsura; ribbed vault before
mihrab and zone of transition
Interior view of the Royal
Chapel (Capilla Real),
showing zone of transition
with ribbed vault
References
 http://www.spanisharts.com/arquitectura/i_prerromanico
_visigodo.html
 archnet.org/library/images/umayyad style
 wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Mosque
 Nuhan N. Khaury,The meaning of the great mosque of
cordoba in 10th century,Page81-94,Independent
publisher
 A global history of architecture/Francis D.K Ching, Mark
Jarzombek, Vikramaditya Prakash , Published by John
Wiley & sons Inc., Hoboken, New jersey