El Cristo de la Luz

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Facade of the former mosque and later church 'El Cristo de la Luz'

The Church of El Cristo de la Luz in Toledo ( Spain ) was originally a mosque with an unknown name. It is also called "Masǧid Bāb al-Mardūm" after the Arabic name of the gate near which it stands. It is now a museum.

Building history

The mosque was built during the rule of the Moors ; an Arabic stone inscription in a frieze in the upper area of ​​the facade names the founder, the architect and a construction date (999/1000). The construction time should only have been about a year. Probably shortly after the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI. in 1085 the mosque was converted into a church. In the 12th century this was given an extension in the Mudejar style, removing the mihrab niche ; the former mosque thus became an open vestibule ( narthex ).

inscription

"In the name of Allah. Ahmad ibn Hadidi had this mosque built in paradise at his own expense and in anticipation of a reward from Allah. The building was completed with the help of Allah and under the direction of Musa ibn Ali, architect and Sa'ada (?), In the month of Muharram in the year 390. "

architecture

The small, almost cubic mosque (side length and height are each about eight meters) has a square floor plan. The building materials used were roughly half-burnt bricks and roughly half- hewn rubble stones , most of which - based on the Roman model - are arranged in horizontal bands. It is unclear whether the mosque originally had a minaret and whether it was demolished during the medieval renovation work.

Facades

The left side of the main facade is slightly wider than the right, the width of which is optically compensated for by a buttress made of brick throughout. The lower part of the facade is completely devoid of decoration; In it there are three - differently designed - portals, of which the middle one is higher than the two on the side, so that the appearance of the entire portal zone is reminiscent of a Roman triumphal arch . The arch of the left portal is made of bricks and shows a slightly elongated five-pass; the arch of the right portal, however, is made of natural stone. The middle part of the facade is formed by blind arcades with overlapping horseshoe arches made of bricks that sit on protruding natural stone consoles. At the top there is a transverse field with a diamond decoration ( sebka ), which is framed by a zigzag band; above is the above. Inscription tape. The surrounding consoles below the eaves are all made of brick.

The portal zone of the north facade shows three horseshoe arches of the same height, each covered by semicircular blind arches. Above it there are six blind windows with red and white stone changes in the style of the Mezquita de Córdoba . The south facade is closed and shows alternating strips of brick and quarry stone.

Overlapping arches in the central yoke
Fresco in the apse calotte with Christ as Pantocrator

Interior

The interior of the building, which is stone-faced in the lower area, but plastered and whitewashed in the upper area, is divided into nine domed squares, the middle one being raised and exposed through window openings. The raised central yoke is supported by 4 monolithic columns which - like the capitals - come from a Roman or Visigothic building (palace, villa or temple) and were reused here as spoilage . All nine bays have small, differently designed rib domes made of plastered bricks, which are often compared to those in the mosque of Cordoba.

Choir and apse

The comparatively large extension of the choir area takes up roughly the same area as the mosque and is separated from and connected to the inside by a portal and two large lateral arches. It has a base or foundation zone made of rubble stones; the actual structure, however, is completely made of bricks, as is customary in the Mudéjar style . The apse is divided into two parts: in the lower zone there are blind arcades with round arches; the upper zone, on the other hand, shows slender Gothic pointed arched windows with overlapping arches in the form of nine passes. Inside the apse there is a similar two-storey structure with blind arcades, the horseshoe arches of which are slightly pointed.

The Apsiskalotte shows a severely damaged Pantokrator - fresco , which formerly of the symbols of the 4 evangelists was surrounded - an eagle (for John ) is still discernible. The mandorla is colored on the outside; its interior is designed as a light blue starry sky.

Legend

The name of the church goes back to a legend according to which King Alfonso VI. After Toledo was conquered ( Reconquista ), I found a wooden figure of Christ in the walls of the mosque next to a burning candle, which is said to have burned during the 373 years of Islamic rule over Toledo.

meaning

The small mosque building shows borrowings from the Roman (stone change, triumphal arch motif) as well as from Visigothic architecture (horseshoe arches). Other decorative motifs are in-house developments in Arab-Andalusian architecture (overlapping arches, ribbed domes). On the other hand, the decorative, but in its origin probably disastrous ( apotropaic ) diamond panel in the upper part of the facade is certainly influenced by ancient ideas of the Berbers of Morocco .

In its entirety, the building is a reflection of the eventful cultural history of Toledo and all of Spain.

See also

Another former mosque has been preserved in Toledo - the Mezquita de las Tornerías (turner's mosque ).

literature

  • G. King: The Mosque Bab Mardum in Toledo and the Influences Acting Upon It in: Art and Archeology Research Papers, 2, 1972, pp. 29-40.
  • Marianne Barrucand, Achim Bednorz: Moorish architecture in Andalusia. Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 1992, pp. 88ff, ISBN 3-8228-2113-6
  • Henri Stierlin: Islam. Early buildings from Baghdad to Cordoba. Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 1996, p. 110f, ISBN 3-8228-8728-5
  • Markus Hattstein, Peter Delius (Ed.): Islam. Art and architecture . Könemann-Verlag, Cologne 2000, p. 228, ISBN 3-89508-846-3

Web links

Commons : El Cristo de la Luz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 39 ° 51 '38 "  N , 4 ° 1' 27.3"  W.