A multitude of legends, sayings and popular traditions have always revolved around the Mosque of Cordoba, fostered by the aura of mystery that the monument exudes. The centuries of history and the great personalities that have passed through the Mosque have contributed to enriching this popular knowledge, which is part of the history of Cordoba and its Mosque.

One of the most widespread legends about the construction of the Mosque of Cordoba is the Legend of the Angel. According to the story, the Mosque was built according to an angelic vision that Abderramán I had while he was sleeping peacefully in the Palace of al-Ruzafa, in Cordoba. Thus, an angel appeared to the Emir in a dream and reproached him for all the help that Allah had offered him. Abderramán I was the only survivor of his lineage who emigrated from Damascus to al-Andalus, and after victorious battles, he ended up establishing himself as emir of the splendorous Cordoba. That is why the angel asked him: “What have you done for Allah, what have you given him in return? The next morning, the Emir woke up with the idea of building one of the grandest mosques in the world.

The legend of the Captive is one of the best-known legends that circulate in the Mosque of Cordoba. According to this legend, a young Christian man who worked as a market gardener fell in love with an Arab girl who came to shop at his store. The boy asked her to marry him, and she promised to convert to Christianity to be his wife. So, the girl had everything ready for the marriage to take place. But on the night the girl was to be baptized, Arab soldiers killed her and threw her body into the river. They also captured the gardener and tied him to one of the columns of the mosque. During his captivity, and in order not to lose his faith, the chained man engraved with his own nails a cross on the marble column, which you can see if you take one of our guided tours of the Mosque of Cordoba.

According to popular tradition, the Fountain of Santa Maria, located in the Patio de los Naranjos of the Mosque of Cordoba, has surprising properties. According to legend, single women who drink the water from the spout of the Fountain of Santa Maria closest to the olive tree that guards it will be able to get married. Thus, it is a tradition among the unmarried women of Cordoba to drink from the fountain when they wish to get married.

Among the thousands of columns of the Mosque of Cordoba, there is one protected by a screen that contains another of the popular legends that circulate the Mosque of Cordoba. According to the story, when people scratch the column with a coin on its surface, it gives off an unpleasant smell of sulfur. Thus, the rumor spread among the Cordovan population that the column was carved in the bowels of hell itself. A legend that later had its scientific explanation. According to researchers, the smell given off by the column is the product of the chemical reaction produced by rubbing a metallic object with sulfuric acid. Another of the legends that circulate about the columns of the Mosque of Cordoba is the one referring to its healing properties. Among the people of Cordoba, it was said that the columns could cure diseases, which led some citizens to tear off pieces of the columns to take them home.

One of the few legends of the Mosque in which the protagonist is an animal is the legend of the ox. Although there is no evidence to verify its authenticity, it is a widespread rumor among the people of Cordoba. According to the legend, the sculpture of an ox located next to the pulpit of the Main Chapel has its origin in Muslim times. Thus, the sculpture of the ox was sculpted in honor of a beautiful white ox, which was used to transport the columns of the works of the Mosque. When unloading the last of the columns, the ox, exhausted, died on the spot. This is why the famous sculpture was built in its honor, at the request of its owner.

There is in the mihrab of the Mosque of Cordoba a large gold chain, which hangs above its ceiling. It is said that, in its most splendorous times, the gold chain was so long that it even circled itself. According to the story, today it is much shorter because of the bishops who later occupied the temple. Thus, every time the Catholics needed to make some arrangement or buy some goods, they cut a piece of that chain. That is why today the gold chain does not even reach the floor of the temple.

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