Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-11-29
The Great Mosque at Gorlo7a.

Liz OI0d3 IhOSQu S dG OpIIOfd'
The Great Mosque was begun in 786
by Abdu-r-rahma. who determined TO
build the finest mosque in the world;
but even his splendid edifice was greatly
enlarged III the tenth century. There
was an era OF good feeling between the
church and Islam IS those days. Be
fore this mosque was butt Christians
and Moslems amicably occupied differ
ent parts of the same basilica, and
when the Caliph wantc to enlarge he
bought out the Christians Leo. En-
perOr of COnstantirople, sent one hun
dred and forty precious antique columns
for the new building, and Greek artists
TO decorate it; and when Carlova was
conquered by the Christians, [ believe
that for some time the two religions held
worship in this edifice. 1t occupies the
whole of a vast square. The exterior
walls, six feet in thickness, and from
thirty to sixty feet high, with buttress-
ed towers and richly carved portals to
the different entrances, is the finest
specimen OF this sort of work existing
Nearly third of the great square is
occupied by the open Court of Oranges,
the abode, it will be remembered, of
lrVing's wise parrot, who knew more
than the ordinary doctor of law; still q
delightful grove of oranges, with great
fountains, where the pioUs and the idle
like to congregate. From this there
were nineteen doors all now walled
up except three-opening directly into
the sacred mosque. With all these
openings, added to the entrances on
the other three sides, to admit freely
light and air, and to permit the light to
play on its polished columns, what q
cheerful and beautiful interior it must
have beeni And what a bewildering
sight it is yet! The roof is low, not
above thirty-fve feet high, and orig
inally it was all flat. The area is
about 1874 feet east and west, by $50
feet north and south, and it is literally
a forest of columns. OF the original
200, 1896 still stand; the others were
removed to make room for the elab-
crate choir erected in the center, which
destroys the great sweep of pillars and
much of the forest effect. 1t is fit to
make a body weep to see how the Chris
tians have abused this noble interior.
1t would have been more eXcusable if it
lou DCCh uOuC ny cdLIl Oul W
whom we pardon everything; but it
was not; it was done by late and poor
kind of Christians. These columns, all
monoliths, and all made to appear of
uniform height by sinking the longer
ones in the floor, were the spoils of
heather temples in Europe, Asia, and
Africa. Many came from Mines and
Narbonne, some from Seville and Tar
ragona, numbers from COnstantinople.
and a great quantity from Carthage
and other ancient cities of Africa.
They are all of choice and some of them
of rare marbles, jasper, porphyry, verdi
antique, and all were originally highly
polished, and many still retain their
lustre. They might, with a little labor,
be made again to shine like gems.
From the carved capitals of these col
umns spring round Moorish arches,
painted in red and white, which, seen
III any diagonal view, interlace like
ribbons, and produce surprising and
charming effect.
This mosque was called Zeca, the
house of publication; it was equal in
rank to Al Aksa in Jerusalem, and its
shrine of pilgrimage was second only
to the Kaaba at Mecca. If the traveller
chooses to walk seven times around the
lovely little chapel in the center, once
the holy of HOLES, he will tread in a
well-worn path in the stone made by
tens of thousands of Moslem pilgrim
feet. This chapel and the Mihrab are
brilliant with mosaics, and fine carving
in stone, and stucco ornamentation. l
have heard some critics contrast the
lowness of this edifice with the SPRING
inc aspiration of the Gothic cathedrals,
and say that it oppressed them; but it
is one of the wonders of the world
Charles Dudley Warner, IN November
1HuJ7fjp