In the Mezquita of Córdoba you walk into a forest of columns, around eight hundred and fifty of them, carrying two tiers of arches striped red and yellow. Then, in the middle, the forest opens up and you find a Christian cathedral, built inside the mosque from 1523 onwards. The visit is that passage, from one building to the other, under the same roof.

From Monday to Saturday, between 8:30 and 9:30, entry is free, though not for groups; for the rest of the day the official ticket costs 15 euros. It is worth the early alarm.

Why are there two arches, one above the other?

The mosque of Abd al-Rahman I

The mosque was built by Abd al-Rahman I, an Umayyad prince who escaped the massacre of his family in Damascus and became emir of Córdoba in 756. Work began in 785 and was finished in less than two years.

the hall of columns in the mezquita of cordoba, with rows of horseshoe arches striped red and pale disappearing into the distance

It went up so fast perhaps because the columns and capitals were not carved for it: they came from Roman and Visigothic buildings. Those reused columns were probably not tall enough, and to raise the roof two arches were stacked: the lower one, a horseshoe arch, braces the columns, while the upper one, a round arch, carries the roof. The voussoirs alternate yellow, in limestone, and red, in brick.

Islamic sources say that a basilica dedicated to Saint Vincent stood where the mosque is, and that Christians and Muslims shared it for a time; excavations point to a fifth-century episcopal complex, but the story of the shared basilica is disputed by scholars.

The minaret and the last two extensions

The mosque grew with the city. Abd al-Rahman III, the first caliph, built a new minaret from 951, 47 metres high. His son al-Hakam II, from 961, lengthened the prayer hall by 45 metres to the south.

the mezquita of cordoba seen from the guadalquivir river, with the bell tower, the cathedral dome, the arched roman bridge and greenery in the foreground

The last and largest extension was made by Almanzor in 987 and 988. This time the mosque grew to the east, because to the south lay the river, the Guadalquivir.

On 8 August 2025 a fire broke out in a chapel in the area of Almanzor’s extension, used as a storeroom, and the roof of the nearby chapel of the Expectación collapsed under the weight of the firefighters’ water.

The mihrab and the gold of Byzantium

Where do the gold mosaics of the mihrab come from?

According to the traditional sources, from Constantinople. Al-Hakam II is said to have written to the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II asking for master mosaicists, and the emperor to have sent a master with around 1,600 kilos of tesserae as a gift; the mosaicists taught the craft to the caliph’s own artisans. The mihrab and the domes were finished in 965, the mosaics between 970 and 971.

the façade of the mihrab in the mezquita of cordoba, with its horseshoe arch decorated with gold mosaics and bands of inscriptions

The mihrab, the niche that shows the direction of prayer, is not a niche here: it is a small octagonal room, covered by a shell-shaped dome.

In front of the mihrab, look up at the dome of the maqsura: it is decorated with the same gold mosaics.

the dome in front of the mihrab of the mezquita of cordoba seen from below, its gilded segments radiating outwards and covered in mosaics with plant motifs

The cathedral in the middle

In 1236 Ferdinand III of Castile conquered Córdoba, and the mosque became a church: the first Mass was celebrated on 29 June of that year. For almost three centuries the building changed little, with a few chapels and a few tombs.

Who wanted a cathedral inside the mosque?

Bishop Alonso Manrique, who had it begun in 1523 against the wishes of the city council. Charles V stepped in to authorise it, but later, according to Bernardo de Alderete, he regretted it in these words: “you have destroyed what was unique in the world, and in its place you have put what can be seen anywhere”.

the red and pale striped arches of the mezquita of cordoba, and at the far end, between the columns, the lit altar of the cathedral

The nave was designed by Hernán Ruiz the Elder, who still worked with Gothic forms but brought in Renaissance elements. When you get there, look up: after the arches of the mosque, the vault of the transept is white, carved and full of light.

the vault of the transept of the cathedral inside the mezquita of cordoba, white and decorated with sculptures and ribs around a central oval

The bell tower and the Patio de los Naranjos

The minaret of Abd al-Rahman III is still there, but you cannot see it: it is enclosed inside the Renaissance bell tower, built between 1593 and 1617 to a design by Hernán Ruiz III. You climb the bell tower in half-hourly slots, with a separate ticket.

the patio de los naranjos of the mezquita of cordoba, with rows of orange trees, palms and the bell tower in the background

At the foot of the tower opens the Puerta del Perdón, which leads into the Patio de los Naranjos, the 130-by-50-metre courtyard where Muslims washed before prayer. There have been orange trees here since at least 1512, and their arrangement in rows is the one given by Bishop Francisco de Reynoso between 1597 and 1601.

Practical information

Details checked on 29 October 2026 on the official website, mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es. Prices and opening hours change: check again before you leave.

TicketsGeneral admission costs 15 euros. The reduced ticket costs 12 euros for over-65s, students aged 15 to 26 and Youth Card holders; 8 euros for children aged 10 to 14, people with a disability of up to 64% and adult members of large families. The climb up the bell tower costs 4 euros, the night visit “El Alma de Córdoba” 25, reduced 18. On Tiqets you will find the guided tour of the Mezquita with skip-the-line entry, at 30 euros, in English or Spanish, and the entry ticket with an audio guide in English, at 26: both cost more than the official ticket.
Opening hoursAt the end of October 2026 the paid visit runs from Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00; hours change with the season, and they are different on Sundays and public holidays. The website has a day-by-day calendar. Last entry is half an hour before closing. The bell tower is climbed in half-hourly slots, from 9:30 to 18:30.
ClosuresThe official page lists no fixed closing days, but warns that days and hours can change for religious celebrations.
Free admissionFrom Monday to Saturday, from 8:30 to 9:30, the visit is free for everyone, except groups and on days of special celebrations; you can go in until 9:20. Children under 10, people born or living in the diocese of Córdoba, and people with a disability above 64% and their companion always go in free.
Getting thereThe address is Calle Cardenal Herrero 1, in the historic centre.
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The Mezquita makes most sense alongside the Alhambra in Granada, the palace of the Nasrid sultans. And in Seville there is another Islamic building transformed by the Christians: the cathedral with the Giralda, where the minaret became a bell tower.

Photographs from Wikimedia Commons: the hall of columns, by Gzzz, CC BY-SA 4.0; the view from the river, the arches with the altar and the vault of the transept, by Fernando, CC BY-SA 4.0; the façade of the mihrab, by José Luis Filpo Cabana, CC BY 3.0; the dome of the maqsura, by R Prazeres, CC BY-SA 4.0; the Patio de los Naranjos, by Daderot, CC0.