ہویلوا
The mosque of Almonaster la Real is a small Andalusi mosque built in the ninth or tenth century, in the time of the emirate and caliphate of Córdoba, inside…
The mosque of Almonaster la Real is a small Andalusi mosque built in the ninth or tenth century, in the time of the emirate and caliphate of Córdoba, inside the castle on the hill above the village in the Sierra de Aracena. It was built on the remains of a sixth-century Visigothic basilica and reused its stones and columns, and it is the only rural mosque of al-Andalus in Spain to survive almost intact. The prayer hall has rows of horseshoe arches on columns and piers and a simple mihrab in the qibla wall, and it keeps the quiet, plain character of the mosques of its time. After the Christian conquest it became a hermitage, and today it is used for worship and as a cultural centre. The village is a pleasant base for walks in the Sierra de Aracena.