Admiration and Awe: Morisco Buildings and Identity Negotiations in Early Modern Spanish Historiography

Abstract

<p>As Christian conquerors from the north of the Iberian Peninsula gradually gained possession of Islamic Spain during the medieval reconquista (largely between 1085 and 1492), they not only took control of lands, cities and peoples but also came into contact with a very different architectural style. The result was a fascinating coexistence of cultural hybridity and anti-Islamic prejudice. While some Islamic buildings were torn down and replaced with new Christian edifices (such as the Great Mosque of Toledo), others were preserved or adapted (mostly notably the Mosque/Cathedral of Cordoba, the Mosque/Cathedral of Seville and the Alhambra palace in Granada, which all survive today and are major tourist attractions). Elements of Islamic art and architecture were incorporated into buildings built after the conquest in what has, since the nineteenth century, commonly been called the 'Mudejar style'.</p>