La Mezquita in Cordoba, Spain has a rich history. I’m going to take a quote here from wikipedia, who explain it much better than I could ;)
The site was originally a pagan temple, then a VisigothicChristianchurch, before the UmayyadMoors converted the building into a mosque and then built a new mosque on the site.[1] After the Spanish Reconquista, it became a Roman Catholic church, with a plateresque cathedral later inserted into the centre of the large Moorish building. The Mezquita is regarded as the one of the most accomplished monuments of Islamic architecture.
The fascinating thing about this building is that it’s quite literally a mosque, with a Catholic church right in the middle.
I had to shoot hand-held in there, so the photos didn’t turn out quite as good as I would have liked, but you can definitely get a feeling for what it’s like to stand in this space, the origins of which date back to the year 600.
Here’s another wikipedia quote:
The building is most notable for its arcaded hypostyle hall, with 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings, such as the Mérida amphitheatre.
When I leave a place like this I feel inspired to go home and create something beautiful. My travels are, by far, the place where most of my own creative ideas are born.
My favourite thing about the Andalusian region of Spain was the Islamic architecture. Yes… I think I’m definitely in the mood to travel again ;)