I used to think the urge to convert mosques into temples was an obsession peculiar to Hindutva types. But Córdoba, Spain makes it ok to have rapacious religionists in your cultural closet.

As I posted last, the mountain fortress of La Alhambra looks Spanish on the outside, Mughal on the inside. But the Mezquita cathedral in Córdoba is the reverse, a Moorish mosque converted into a cathedral.

The building is square rather than cross-shaped, and the central cupola is an octagon, Muslim-style. On the inside are rows upon rows of Moroccan double-arched pillars in red and white stripes, the pillars reminiscent of the cisterns in Istanbul. But the center has been retrofitted as a church: pews with representational gargoyle armrests, a giant altar centerpiece with classical religious art, a white dome with gold accents. The niches along the edges are now miniature chapels dedicated to individual saints. The original tile mosaic floor has been overlaid in marble. Atop the dome, a crescent no doubt made way for the cross.

Most interestingly, some Muslim-style art was left behind during the retrofit. I’d imagine it was the purely geometric parts which didn’t mention a competing deity, and of course the structurally necessary arches, even if scalloped Muslim-style. The Moors weren’t even the first to lay claim to the site. It was once a Roman site, and after the Romans came the Visigoths. Wikipedia speculates that the Visigoths may even have given Andalucía its name:

The Visigoths, following the custom of their Germanic predecessors, parcelled out the conquered territories by drawing lots, and the allotments… were called “Sortes Gothicae”… It is reasonable to suppose then that the corresponding Gothic designation “Landahlauts” (allotted, inherited, drawn land), in its phonetic form — “landalos” — became easily and spontaneously, to Arabic ears, “Al-Andalus”. [Link]

In an other part of the city, Córdoba’s tiny community of Spanish Jews had its own small synagogue, another fascinating mashup of artistic styles. The patterns are mainly European, but some are geometrical and Islamic. There’s Hebrew writing all around the edges. And on the wall of the main niche, where a Torah or menorah probably once stood, some long-ago interloper painted a cross. The synagogue sits in a souk directly behind the mosque/cathedral, just like Istanbul. The proximity is probably good for business.

I’d imagine the urge to convert religious sites stems from not only their salubrious locations on prime plots of land or some belief in their intrinsic holiness. Instead it’s a game of capture the flag. A church, temple, mosque or synagogue is a symbol of what the enemy respects. Toppling that structure is good, but replacing it with your own, even better

It’s analogous to wartime rape as a political weapon (the Pakistani military in East Bengal, the Japanese military during WWII, and so on): not only will the enemy’s women be defiled, but in areas without access to abortion, they’ll be forced to bear your children. These are some primal, tribal blood lusts, and they started long before Ayodhya.