Friday, April 02, 2010

The Church-Mosque-Cathedral (in that order)


From the Associated Press:
MADRID - A group of Muslims tried to pray inside a Roman Catholic cathedral that was originally a mosque and then scuffled with security guards and police who tried to stop them, a Spanish official said Friday.

Two of the tourists were arrested after the incident Wednesday night in the southern city of Cordoba and a police officer and a cathedral security guard were slightly injured, National Police spokeswoman Rosa Ortiz told The Associated Press.

The Great Mosque of Cordoba was built after the Moorish invasion of Spain in the 8th century. Cordoba is known as the City of Three Cultures because Muslims, Jews and Christians lived there in harmony during medieval times.

A friend who visited the cathedral informed me that the article fails to mention that the mosque was actually built on top of a fifth-century Roman church. The old mosaics can still be seen. So how far back do we want to go with this? Let's see Divine Liturgy return to Hagia Sophia. Then we'll talk.

The once-greatest church in Christendom was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. Now, it's a museum.

No comments:

Post a Comment