a day ago
Fire damages historic chapels at Córdoba's Mosque-Cathedral
A fire has damaged two chapels at the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, one of Europe's most celebrated monuments of Islamic architecture, prompting criticism of a lack of safety measures.
The blaze broke out shortly after 9pm on Friday in a chapel in the eastern nave of the 10th-century Almánzor section. Initial investigations suggest the cause was a short-circuit in an electric floor-sweeping machine stored in that part of the monument.
Flames spread to the adjoining 13th-century Chapel of the Annunciation, where the 19th-century altarpiece suffered the most significant damage. The roof of the chapel collapsed and the vaults of surrounding 'Moorish' arches were blackened by smoke. One column in the chapel has been shored up.
The dean Joaquín Alberto Nieva described the damage as 'very small' and said that the oldest parts of the building, including the 8th-century mihrab, were unaffected.
The Mosque-Cathedral was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1984. Critics from the Plataforma Mezquita-Catedral civic group said the use of a heritage chapel as a storeroom reflected a 'dangerous lack of risk prevention' and questioned the decision to reopen so soon. The group's spokesman Miguel Santiago said that if negligence were confirmed, the fire could amount to a criminal offence against heritage.
Isidoro Moreno, an academic from Seville University specialising in the regional culture of Andalusia, called the blaze 'an unacceptable negligence of the bishopric and the cathedral chapter' and condemned the storage of potentially hazardous materials inside the monument.
The church council, which manages the site, said the use of the chapel for storage was long-standing and part of its self-protection plan, but confirmed it had acquired two nearby buildings in which it would relocate equipment.
The dean said lessons would be learned from the incident. A new fire-safety system, similar to that installed in the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris after its 2019 blaze, has been scheduled for installation in October.
The local council has notified Unesco and the International Council on Monuments and Sites, which advises the UN body, will visit this week to assess the damage and advise on restoration.
Audrey Azoulay, Unesco director-general, praised the rapid response of firefighters and confirmed the organisation was 'fully mobilised alongside Spain to guarantee the preservation and rehabilitation of this exceptional monument'.
The mosque, begun by the Umayyad dynasty in the late 8th century and expanded over the following two centuries, became a Christian cathedral after the conquest of Córdoba in 1236.
In the 16th century a nave and transept were inserted into the mosque's centre. Emperor Charles V reportedly told the bishop: 'You have built here what you or anyone else might have built anywhere; to do so you have destroyed what was unique in the world.'
