Fire controlled at the Cordoue-Cathedral Mosque, masterpiece of Islamic architecture

A fire broke out on Friday evening in the Cordoba mosque-cathedral, an emblematic monument listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The firefighters, alerted around 9 p.m., managed to quickly contain the flames, avoiding any irreversible damage to this masterpiece of Islamic architecture, built between the VIIIᵉ and the thirteenth century under the emir Omeyyade Abd al-Rahman.

Converted into a cathedral after the Christian reconquest in the 13th century, the site attracted more than two million visitors per year. According to the Spanish press, the origin of the disaster would be linked to the accidental fire of a mechanical sweeper operating within the enclosure of the monument. Unique symbol of architectural interbreeding, the mosque-cathedral mixes with harmony Muslim heritage and Christian additions. Its large prayer room, famous for its alignments of columns and red and white arcades, remains one of the most beautiful examples of Islamic art in Europe. Built on the vestiges of an old church, it has been enlarged several times, notably under the Caliph Al Hakam II, which made a sumptuous mihrab erected in the 10th century.

This new episode recalls the vulnerability of large historic monuments in the face of fire risks, whether accidental or linked to work. The emotion aroused by flame images in this emblematic place echoes that caused by the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris in 2019, strengthening the call for increased vigilance in the protection of world heritage.