MOORISH ARCHITECTURE AND

EXAMPLES OF ISLAMIC/MOORISH
STRUCTURES
WHAT IS MOORISH ARCHITECTURE?
Moorish architecture is a variation
of Islamic architecture.
There are many motifs, or repeated
patterns, in Moorish architecture. The
first slide gives an overview of the
motifs:
different styles of arches,
calligraphy,
vegetative design,
and decorative tiles.
DIFFERENT STYLES OF ARCHES
CALLIGRAPHY
VEGETATIVE DESIGN
WHO WERE THE MOORS?
The Moors were the Muslim inhabitants
of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula,
Sicily, and Malta during the Middle
Ages.
The Moors initially were the
indigenous Maghrebine Berbers. The
name was later also applied to Arabs.
The Moors were Muslim and influenced
by the Islamic architecture that
developed in the Middle East.
Although mosques are the most common
examples of Moorish architecture,
motifs spread to the design of homes
and places of businesses.
HISTORY …
The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba was built in the 8th century.
In 1236, the Mosque was reconverted into a Christian church, when
Ferdinand III of Castile conquered Cordoba. The Christian rulers decided
to preserve the Mosque, and instead of destroying it, they enhance its
beauty by adding new spaces and monuments.
DECORATIVE TILES
The arches rise from slender short columns, similar to
those of the Romans. These columns, also support stone
piers that carry a second higher row of arches.
As a result these arches seem to billow out like sails
blown by the wind.
WHO BUILT THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA?

The original structure was built by the

Umayyad ruler ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān I in 784–
786 with extensions in the 9th and 10th
centuries that doubled its size, ultimately
making it one of the largest sacred buildings
in the Islamic world.
IN THE CAPILLA DE
VILLAVICIOSA, A VAULTED
CHAMBER IN FRONT THE OF
“MIHRAB”, THE DEVICE OF
SUPERIMPOSING ARCHES IS
DECORATIVELY FURTHER
DEVELOPED.

LOBED ARCHES IN THREE

ROWS, ONE ON TOP OF
THE OTHER, INTERLACED IN
SUCH A WAY AS TO FORM
A COMPLEX ORNAMENTAL
SCREEN
 The domes in
front of the
“mihrab” are
perhaps also
inspired by the
desire for a
decorative
effect.

Eight slender arches or ribs cross each

other above a square compartment,
subdividing it into a network of cells.
THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CÓRDOBA HELD A
PLACE OF IMPORTANCE AMONGST THE
ISLAMIC COMMUNITY OF AL-ANDALUS FOR
THREE CENTURIES.
THE MAIN HALL OF THE MOSQUE WAS USED
FOR A VARIETY OF PURPOSES. IT SERVED AS A
CENTRAL PRAYER HALL FOR PERSONAL
DEVOTION, THE FIVE DAILY MUSLIM PRAYERS
AND THE SPECIAL FRIDAY PRAYERS.
HOW BIG IS THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA?

24,000 square meters

The building has mammoth dimensions: It stretches across

24,000 square meters and features as many as 856 esthetic
columns made of marble, granite, jasper, and other fine
materials. Visiting the Mezquita gives you a glimpse of how it
was at ancient times.
The Mosque’s focus point is a shell-shaped prayer niche, built in the 10th century. The
mihrab traditionally faces Mecca. However, the Mosque of Cordoba’s mihrab faces
south, just like the Damascus Mosque, and not south-east, where Mecca is supposed to be.
Byzantium sculptors imported the gold cubes, and it was built in a small room to amplify
the words of the imam (the Muslim prayer leader). The Mosque’s mihrab was entirely
different from the previous mosques’, whose mihrabs used to be simple little niches open
in the wall.
The brick-and-stone striped arches are supported by 856 granite and marble
pillars, coming from Romans and Visigothic ruins. The sun rays create awesome
plays among the pillars and the arches. So stop here for a while, to enjoy the
free show that takes place right before your eyes.
ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED AS A SMALL FORTRESS IN AD 889 ON THE
REMAINS OF ROMAN FORTIFICATIONS, AND THEN LARGELY IGNORED UNTIL
ITS RUINS WERE RENOVATED AND REBUILT IN THE MID 13TH CENTURY
SITE BECAME THE ROYAL COURT OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA (WHERE CHRISTOPER
COLUMBUS RECEIVED ROYAL ENDORSEMENT FOR HIS EXPEDITION)
 The distinctively Moorish style of Islamic architecture, that is, the
architecture of North Africa and Spain, reaches its ultimate state of
refinement in the Alhambra Palace, the last Islamic stronghold in
Spain.
In the famous “Court of Lions” and the rooms
around it, the columns have become slender
like flower stalks.
They support
stilted arches of
extravagantly
complex
shape,
consisting of
nothing but a
web of
ornaments
 STILTED ARCHES
stilted
arch (plural stilted
arches) (architecture)
An arch that does not
spring directly from the
impost, but from
horizontal courses of
masonry resting on it.
 THE COURT
ITSELF,
PROPORTIONED
ACCORDING TO
THE GOLDEN
MEAN, IS
FRAMED BY
RHYTHMICALLY
SPACED SINGLE,
DOUBLE AND
TRIPLE COLUMNS
WITH SLENDER,
REED-LIKE
SHAFTS.
The resulting airy, almost floating appearance of the interior space
is enhanced by the stalactite decorations or “muqarna” that
break up the structural appearance of the arches, transforming
them into near-organic forms.
In the Hall of Two Sisters, the ribs of the mosque
of Cordoba have disappeared behind a
honeycomb of ever multiplying cells framed by
tiny arches that hang like stalactites from the
ceiling.
The Alhambra is enshrined in the romantic imagination
of the West as the visible counterpart of the wonders
of the Thousand and One Nights
FACTS:

ALHAMBRA (OR THE RED FORTRESS) SEEMS SUFFICIENTLY STRAIGHTFORWARD,

THERE IS NONETHELESS A REAL DEBATE AS TO ITS ORIGIN.

THE NAME POSSIBLY ORIGINATED FROM THE DANCING REDDISH GLOW CAST
ON THE PALACE WALLS
FACTS:

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

 The Dome of the
Rock is situated in
the center of the
Temple Mount,
the site where the
Jewish First
Temple and
Second Temple
had stood.
The Second
Temple was
destroyed in 70
CE by the
Romans, who
built a temple to
Jupiter on the site.
Its architecture and
mosaics were
patterned after
nearby Byzantine
churches and
palaces. The two
engineers in charge
of the project were
Raja ibn Haywah, a
Muslim theologian
from Beit She'an
and Yazid Ibn
Salam, a non-Arab
who was Muslim
and a native of
Jerusalem.
The rock which the dome
surrounds is considered one of the
most holy placeless, not only by
Muslims, but Jews and Christians
as well.

MUSLIM STORY
Called Haram al-Sharif (the Jewish
Temple Mount) it is an outcrop of
rocks that Muslims have identified
as the place where Muhammad
ascended to the presence of God
described in chapter 17 of the
Koran.
 CHRISTIAN STORY
The same Rock is associated
with the Creation of Adam and
where the Patriarch Abraham
was commanded to slaughter
his beloved son Isaac.

In 692 the Dome of the Rock was commissioned for not

only religious but also political purposes. Chaliph Abd
El-Malik placed the monument on the the Noble
Sanctuary, in order to enshrine the sacred rock.
*The Noble Rock is the focus of the interior of the Dome of
the Rock
*situated directly beneath the lofty dome and surrounded
by the highly ornate inner circular and outer octagonal
arcades.
*The mosque is octagonal in shape, having 8 sides. Each
side has a door and 7 windows, with rock crystal carving.
 The very form of a
rotunda, given to the
Qubbat as-Sakhra,
although it was foreign
to Islam, attempted to
rival the many Christian
domes of its time.

The plan of the Dome of

the Rock notes that
those who built the
shrine used the
measurements of the
Church of the Holy
Sepulchre.
Extensive decoration from a variety of periods,
including mosaics, painted wood, marble, multi-
colored tiles, carpets, and carved stone, covers
most of the exterior and interior of the building.
Many of the 45,000 blue and gold exterior tiles
were installed under Suleiman the Magnificent
in the 1500s.

Inside, 1,280 square meters of elaborate mosaics

cover the walls that enshrine the mystical rock
under the dome. The intricate patterns and
geometric shapes of the mosaics replace
figurative art since, according to Muslim belief, it
would be impossible to represent Allah in any
figurative form.
Instead, the shrine conveys its own message through color and
shape. In Islamic art, blue, the color of the sky, suggests infinity,
while gold represents the color of the knowledge of God. The
shape of the dome itself is a powerful symbol of the soaring
ascent to heaven, its circle representing the wholeness and
balance essential to the Muslim faith.
This mosque was the largest
mosque of the Islamic world
measuring 245m x 158m.

Over half of its 3.8 has. area was

covered by wooden roof
carried by 464 supports.

The central open court leads

towards the “quibla” and in its
center a niche called “mihrab”.
On the north side of the Great Mosque stands a single,
large spiral minaret, linked to the mosque by a ramp
from which the faithful are called to prayer
 Although the shape is reminiscent of ancient
ziggurats of Mesopotamia, it was probably not
inspired by them but by a certain kind of
special tower of unknown purpose found in
Sassanian (Pre-Islamic) Iran.
The spiral is an
important
natural form
for the
development
of
architectural
form
 Most Arabic
minarets were
square in plan
and derived
from the
towers of
early Christian
churches.
Cylindrical
minarets
became
popular only
in the 11th
century.
The early mosque hypostyle system lacked to a certain
extent architectural focus and direction, except for the
orientation of the building.
On the other hand, it was a flexible system that
permitted additions with minimum effort.