The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-22

1 during his lifetime. at enormous cost The
plans of its founder were faithfully copied.
| except that IL soon became necessary TO
| more than double the original size, as the
! immense mosque proved too small to &C
I cOmmodate the eyer-increasing multtudes
OF pilgrims Al-Haken II constructed the
Mahrab. or Hottest of Holes" wherein
was deposited the richly illuminated manu-
! script of the Koran. This priceless relic
/ was torn in pieces by Don Alfonso's christ
l ian soldiers in the year l146, when Ben
/ Sagiah delivered up Cordova- This Mos
I lem Holy Of HOLES was called by the
( Spaniards del ZancarrOn.' in derision Of
! the feet bone Of Mahomet All pilgrims
walked seven times around the sacred
/ place as was done at Mecca; hence the
footworn pavement. which today shows a
deep hollow. circular in form, surrounding
the point Of devotion.
Abdu-r-rahman III built the beautiful
minaret. and AlMansur added the eight
naves on the Eastern side. The last named
monarch was gathered to his fathers in the
year 1902, and after his death nothing more
was done TO the mosque until the thir-
teenth century, when it was seized by bar
barian Spaniards-who have ever since
been destroying its symmetry and effacing
its original character by repeated muta-
tiOns. Roman Catholic choirs and affairs
were erected in the very middle, by order
OF Charles V and stall, pulpits. shrines,
confessionals, images and other church
paraphernalia scattered all over it.
You may travel the wide world over and
find no sanctuary. of any faith so impress
sive at this temple Of Allah-none which
seems to fit a dwelling place fer Him who
fills all space above the petty creeds and
dogmas OF men. Perhaps it is the immense
width and depth Of the interior. its infini-
tude of columns and mysterious perspec-
tives. combined with the ancient traditions
of the place. that transport the visitor at
once to days of the Caliphs and render the
common place world of the twentieth cen
ury illusory and unreal The whole
place seems peopled with shadowy forms,
standing with supplicating hands and faces
turned toward Mecca. or PROSTATE upon
their prayer-rugs: while from the minaret,
far overhead. sounds the Muezzin's cry.
Come to prayer! Prayer is better than
sleep"
Its Marvellous Interior.
The most beautiful feature of the inte-
rior is its dense forest of many colored
marble columns, supporting the Moorish
arches of the roof. which broods over all
alike the sense of Gods beneficence-not
afar of. but near and tangible. Original
ly there were 1900 of these shafts, and
upward Of a thousand yet remain. II is
marble labyrinth, of endless vistas and
mystifying space. One is astonished at
the infinite varieties Of stone and the
many tints il can assume-from black to
purest white. malachite green as emerald,
crimson bloodstone, black veined and mot
tied with chrome, ultra marine. purple,
ap-r,hVrv 1av111f vrhifa
streaked with carnelian, snakely notified
serpentine and innumerable other COM
binations OF color.
The principal entrance is through the
beautiful Court of Oranges with its
stately palms and quaint old Moorish
fountain. its groups of idlers and charac-
terisuc Spanish scenes. 1t was built by
Said Ben Azub. in 937 and its rows of
trees originally correspondent with the
lines Of columns In the mosque. Passing
under the high-peaked doorway. which is
surmounted by softly tinted azuelos. Moor
ish tiles). spelling out texts from the Ko-
ran. you are. at once in the marble for
est, where countless magnificent naves
stretch away and intersect, and shining
pillars. Of every tint in the rainbow,
spring up to the delicate horseshoe arches.
In some sections the ceiling is dazzling
with arabesques and crystals, in others il
is richly paneled and gilded; and here and
there vandal Spsniards have painted it red
and yellow, As the external walls en-
close an area Of four acres, minute de-
scriDtion is impossible in the limits Of
newspaper letter.
Among the special sights" TO which the
guide will lead you is the Puerta del Per
don. so called because built with money
raised by the sale Of indulgences. 1t is |
an arched entrance Of purely Oriental type
embellished with the arms Of CASTLE and
Leon Its doors. usually closed, are COW
cred with bronze plating, with Gothic and
Arabic inscriptions. and the words lin
SPANISH The Empire belongs to God and I
all is His"
You viii be shown a pale-yellow column !
flushed with pink, a species Of marble Of
which no quarries now exist, near the base
OF which a rude crucihx may be dimly trac- I
ed. The story goes, but nobody believes I
it, that a Christian captive was chained to /
this pillar in the time of Haken III He 7
would have been released unpublished had /.
he not desecrated Allah's temple by
scratching with his nails the Christian I
emblem upon the pillar. For that crime !
he was garroted on the spot
Some Of the doorways are maryelously |
rich in Moorish spandrels and lattieed OPP |
enings. with fine Oriental ornamentations |
and Cufc inscriptions. and others set |
round with a multitude OF statues and !
images. One Of the first mentioned, flank /
ed with ancient mosaics and surmounted /
by a queer azmiel window, is pointed cut /
as the private door by which the Sultan /
always entered the mosque; and the low /
crypt NAV be seen, called the Maksurah. /
where he prayed on Fridays. Near II /
W hite marble slab and a padlocked urn |
mark the resting place of five bishops Of /
Christian Cordova- Their tomb was re- /
stored in i557 by Bishop Leopold, brother I
Of the Emperor Of Austria. who himself |