List of former mosques in Spain

Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, one of the best preserved old mosques in Spain.

This is a list of former mosques in Spain. It lists former Muslim mosques (Arabic: Masjid, Spanish: Mezquita) and Islamic places of worship in Spain. It lists some but by no means all of the old mosques of Spain.

The term former mosque in this list includes any Muslim mosque (building) or site used for Islamic Prayer (Salah) in Spain but is not so any longer.

Most of the former mosques in Spain were built and used as Muslim places of worship during the Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) period from 711 AD to 1492 AD when various Muslim Moorish kingdoms ruled large parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Most of these former mosques and religious buildings were either demolished or converted into churches after the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula (the Reconquista).^[1]

This list does not include the former mosques of Portugal that were built during Al-andalus era.

List of former mosques in Spain (with original buildings & ruins)

This table lists former mosques in Spain with identified original buildings or ruins of the former mosque still existing on the premises.

Note: Mesquita means mosque in the Spanish language.

Current Name	Mosque Name	Images	City	Province	Year Opened	Year Closed	Notes	Ref.
Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba	Great Mosque of Córdoba (Qurṭuba), Aljama Mosque		Córdoba	Andalusia	784~	1236	Current building built from 784 to 987. Converted into a Catholic Church in 1236 by King Ferdinand III of Castile.[1]	[1][2]
Mosque of Cristo de la Luz	Mezquita Bab-al-Mardum		Toledo	Castilla–La Mancha	999	1186	Converted into a church. One of the best preserved Moorish mosques in Spain.[1]	[1][2]
Giralda	Great Mosque of Seville		Seville	Andalusia		1248	Only minaret remains. Mosque comparable in size to Great mosque of Cordoba, destroyed by earthquake in 1365. Minaret used as a church bell tower was built higher in 16th century.	[1]
Mezquita de Almonaster la Real			Almonaster la Real	Andalusia	10th century		Built on site of 5th century Visigoth basilica. Converted into a Church after Reconquista. National Monument since 1931.	[1][2]
Mezquita del Alcázar de Jerez la Frontera			Jerez de la Frontera (Jerez)	Andalusia	11th century	mid 13th century	Located within former Moorish fortress of Alcazar of Jerez de la Frontera. Only surviving mosque building of 18 former mosques in the Jerez city. Converted into church after Reconquista.	[1][2]
Mosque of las Tornerías	Al-Mustimim		Toledo	Castilla–La Mancha	1060[3]		Unusual two-storied mosque. Was built in a busy commercial neighborhood (Arrabal de Francos). Used as a church until 1498-1505, and other uses since. Restoration and preservation done recently.	[2][3][4]
Mezquita de Tórtoles			Tarazona	Aragon		15th century	Mosque remains almost not altered in the later centuries. Current building was built in 2 stages, one early 15th century, other late 15th century. It is attached to the remains of the old fortified tower of town castle. Converted into a church in 1526.	[5]
Aljama Mosque of Medina Azahara	Aljama Masjid of Madinat al-Zahra		Córdoba	Andalusia	940	1010	A mosque in Madinat al-Zahra, a vast, fortified Moorish palace-city built by Abd-ar-Rahman III (912–961). The marbled, jeweled complex was plundered & destroyed first by Muslims, then by Christians when civil war ended Caliphate of Córdoba. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2018.	[6]
San Sebastián de Toledo	Al-Dabbagin Masjid		Toledo	Castilla–La Mancha		1085~	Converted into a church after 1085 Christian conquest of area. Renovated several times but original interior structure remains. Building now used as a concert & exhibition hall. Bell tower built in 15th century shows characteristics of former minaret. Ruins of Arab Baths of Tenerías remain lower below on slope.[7] A short reference to mosque exist by Ibn Baskuwal (1101-83) reported by Fath ibn Ibrahim. [8]	[7][8]
Small Royal mosque inside Aljafería Palace			Zaragoza	Aragon	10th century		Located inside the great fortified palace. A small octagonal mosque, designed as a private oratory for the king and his family. Mosque architecture inspired by Córdoba mosque. Aljafería is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986.[9]	[9]
Mezquita-Iglesia de El Salvador, Toledo			Toledo	Castilla–La Mancha	9th century	1085	Mosque built on former Visigoth or Roman substrate. Now a rebuilt church but excavations revealed 9th century structures & elements of mosque - horseshoe arch arcade, primitive stone minaret, flooring, courtyard with cistern.[10][11]	[10] [11]
Alminar de Árchez, Alminar Mudéjar (Mudejar Minaret of Árchez)	Masyid al-Ta`ibin, Mezquita de los Conversos[12] (Mosque of convert)		Árchez	Andalusia		14th century	Only 15 meter tall minaret remains, used as bellfry of Árchez church built on mosque location. Minaret is a Almohade architecture monument and only remaining jewel of Nazarí period.[13]	[13]
San Sebastian Minaret (Alminar De San Sebastian)			Ronda	Andalusia		1485	Only minaret of the medium-size mosque in Plaza Abul Beka neighborhood remains. Minaret was expanded and used as a bell tower. The mosque was converted to a church but destroyed in 1600s during Morisco Revolts. Ronda was a Muslim city for 700 years. The city had 7 or 8 mosques, none survive today.[14]	[14]
Alminar de San Juan (Minaret of San Juan)			Córdoba	Andalusia	930		Only minaret remains of mosque built in 930 during 1st Spanish Umayyad caliph 'Abd al-Rahman III. Now its bellfry of San Juan church.[15]	[15]
Iglesia de Santiago del Arrabal, Toledo			Toledo	Castilla–La Mancha			Converted to church in 1223-25. Caliphate era minaret survives. Church is a Mudéjar style masterpiece, built in 1245-47 on prior structures of a mosque and Visigoth building.[16]	[16]
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación (Benaque, Macharaviaya)			Macharaviaya				One of few preserved mosques with original minaret and solid block building built of brick & masonry. Interior single rectangular prayer hall now a church nave. Drilling Mecca facing wall in 2003 showed original mosque construction and 19th century work. Reconquesta era document says "...While it was the visitation and reformation of the houses in the alcayua (or alamiya) in Benaque, the inhabitants used mosque as a parish church, where they had images and heard Mass..." .[17][18]	[17]

List of former mosques in Spain (with original buildings destroyed)

This table lists former mosques in Spain with no known surviving mosque buildings. The original mosques were completely destroyed by people, war or by natural causes like earthquakes. Other structures were built on the site destroying or covering traces of the mosque. The ruins and stone materials of the mosque were often reused to build the new structures. However these sites may still contain undiscovered original structures within the current buildings or un-excavated ruins on the premises.

Current Name	Mosque Name	Location image	Location	Year Opened	Year Closed	Notes	Ref.
Cathedral of the Savior of Zaragoza	Aljama de Saraqusta, Mezquita Mayor de Zaragoz (Great Mosque of Zaragoza)		Zaragoza	714-716	1119	One of the largest & oldest mosques in Spain. Enlarged later to 54 × 86 meters. Looked like Cordoba great mosque. First built by Hanas ben Abdallah as San’ani, a disciple of prophet Muahmmad according to al-Humauydí. Converted to Cathedral despite another Cathedral very near used by Christians during Moorish rule. Minaret lasted till 17th century. Restoration in 1999, revealed mosque size, entrance location etc.[19][20]	[19] [20]
Iglesia de San Nicolás, Madrid	Aljama mosque of Mayrit		Madrid			Current oldest church in Madrid dating back to 1202. Built over a mosque of Muslim Mayrit. Few archaeologist believe 12th century bell tower was a old minaret. Tower in Moorish Arabic Mudéjar architecture. Muslims lost Madrid in 1085.[21][22][23]	[21] [22] [23]
Granada Cathedral	Nasrid Great Mosque of Granada		Grenada			Emirate of Granada, last Muslim kingdom in Spain fell in 1492. Granada Cathedral began in 1505 on the site of the city's main mosque.[24] Royal Chapel of Granada is built over the former terrace of the Great Mosque.	[24]
Basílica de Santa María de la Asunción			Arcos de la Frontera			Church was built in 15th-16th century on the remains of a Moorish mosque. Site dates back to 8th-9th century.[25]	[25]
Baza Cathedral			Baza			Cathedral was built on the site of a old mosque in 16th century.[26] Baza was under Moorish rule from 713 to 1489 AD with a population of 50,000.[27]	[26]
Guadix Cathedral	Al-Hama mosque[28]		Guadix			Principle mosque of Guadix when Muslims ruled it from 711 to 1489. Mosque built over a Visigoth temple. Cathedral began construction over mosque in 1710.[29]	[28]
Santa Catalina, Valencia			Valencia		13th century	Converted into church shorty after reconquista in 13th century. Church was rebuilt several times since.[30]	[30]
Valencia Cathedral			Valencia			Originally a Roman temple, it was turned into a Visigothic cathedral. Then into a mosque under Moors. Reconverted to a cathedral in 1238 after Reconquista and rebuilt later.[31][32]	[32]
Iglesia de San Román, Toledo, (Museum of the Councils of Toledo)			Toledo			13th century Mudéjar style rebuilt Church. But traces remain to a Caliphate mosque, primitive Visigoth Church pillars and possible prior Roman building. Groups of three, toral arches like in a caliphate mosque prayer hall and two parts in Mudejar bell tower indicate old Islamic minaret base.[33][34]	[33] [34]
Old Cathedral of Lleida			Lleida	882	1149	In 882 on this hill, Moors reordered defenses of Visigoth structure and built castle Zuda with the mosque. After Reconquesta, both converted and later rebuilt to Cathedral.[35] 2 fornículas rescued from old city mosque place on a cathedral door.	[35]
Church of Our Lady of the Assumption (Alfacar)	Mimbar de Alfacar		Alfacar		1500	Arab mosque consecrated after revolt in 1500 and a primitive church built on its foundations. Current church built in Mudejar style in 1557 after demolishing old church. End of Muslim era town consisted of 980 people and 245 houses.[36][37]	[36] [37]
Church of Santa Maria de Tarifa			Tarifa			Church was built end of 13th century over mosque remains. Four columns and part of the coffered ceiling of the mosque are still preserved.[38]
Iglesia de San Mateo (Tarifa)			Tarifa			Old mosque within premises of town's Alcazar fortification. Current church built in 1506 on remains of old mosque.[39]

See also

• List of the oldest mosques in the world

References