Submitted by Kaitlyn Cirrito on the 2019 summer session program in Granada, Spain sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
When I first walked into Mezquita-Catedral in Cordoba, I was absolutely blown away by the stunning Moorish architecture. The colossal arches are astonishing to look at even in pictures, much less actually standing next to them. I think what sets this Cathedral apart from the rest that we have seen, for me at least, is the very prevalent Arab influence. To be quite honest, standing in this ex-mosque gave me very conflicting and complex feelings. Sure the architecture is beautiful and allows for the cathedral to stand out against the rest of the cathedrals that we have seen. At the same time however, it’s impossible to forget that this used to be a place of worship for Muslims, not Catholics. Standing there and looking at the juxtaposition of the obvious Moorish architecture framing an overtly Catholic altar, quite frankly, makes me uncomfortable. It all comes down to the utter oppression that the Muslims underwent when they were forced to convert to Catholicism or leave their home. This is an actual concrete depiction of the cruelty that Muslims underwent. To be in a building that stood originally for Muslim worship, that is now filled with artifacts of the very religion that forcibly replaced it, to me seems injust. Everywhere I looked in this cathedral, I was being chased by this unsettling feeling. I look to my left and I see a crucifix on a wall that shares the same recurring Moorish arches. Walk a bit further in the cathedral and I see the main altar directly next to these arches yet again. The arches are what make this feeling of uneasiness so redundant simply because of the direct ties to Muslim culture. Of course,I am not saying that this feeling of uneasiness overcame the beauty of this cathedral because at the end of the day it was gorgeous, but there was an undeniable feeling of distress looming in those walls.
