Submitted by Maya Blackwell on the 2019 summer session program in Granada, Spain sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
So far, at pretty much every place we have visited that has had Arabs first and then Catholics, you can immediately tell which part originated from the Arabs and which is from Christians. By saying this, I mean that it seems that the Arab people tended to make their decorations less elaborate and grand. The original Mosque of Abd al-Rahman I, where you first enter the building doesn’t have gold accents or large paintings and statues. I feel that, in general, the Catholics seemed to show off their religion more so than the Muslims. Just as we said at the Alhambra, from the outside it doesn’t look all that interesting. Yes, it very large and has incredible architecture, especially when you consider its location. However, it doesn’t look like a castle or some place that you’d think would hold some incredible art, but it is. The Muslims didn’t like to show off or shove their religion in the faces of the world and their mosques really show that, even more so when there’s a enormous chapel placed directly in the middle of it. I believe it shows a nice juxtaposition of the two faiths at the time. What appealed to me most was again the blending of cultures that were seen. It’s really interesting that there’s a mosque and chapel combined into one space. Catholicism and Islam have some similarities, but many differences and it is amazing to be able to see the two religions together, but still so separate.
