For almost 800 years Arab-Berber Muslim dynasties from North Africa and beyond ruled over all or part of southern Spain, which they called al-Andalus, where they developed a highly sophisticated and original culture. Al-Andalus was home to some of the most beautiful and accomplished art and architecture of medieval Europe and the wider Islamic world. In Cordoba, celebrated centre of learning and seat of the Umayyad caliphate, the Great Mosque displays glittering gold and coloured glass mosaics with floral and vegetal designs perhaps intended to invoke paradise.

Images provided by the lecturer.