La Mezquita, i.e. the Great Mosque, is located in the Spanish city of Cordoba. Its construction began in the eighties of the eighth century in the place of the Visigothic temple. During the reigns of subsequent Muslim rulers, the mosque was systematically expanded and enriched with impressive architectural details, including the so-called a forest of columns or an octagonal prayer niche with a shell-shaped vault. In the 16th century, Christians built a Roman Catholic cathedral in the temple complex. Currently, the Great Mosque is one of the most important monuments of Islam, and at the same time an extremely popular tourist attraction.
