Cordoba, Spain
Coordinates: 37.882797, -4.781399
The freestanding minaret now associated with the church of San Juan was constructed with its mosque which no longer extant in 930 during the reign of the first Spanish Umayyad caliph ‘Abd al-Rahman III (912-961 C.E.)
This is one of the original minarets of the mosque in Cordoba that is still in its original shape.
This minaret is physically dislocated from the mosque and is located at a distance from it within the denser parts of the old city.
The reason for it being situated away from the mosque and inside the denser parts of the town was to make it easier for people to hear the Azaan, especially in the early morning when people were asleep.
The structure clearly shows Middle Eastern and Arab architectural style. The structure is in dire need of preservation.
Now its a belltower of San Juan church.
History
After the fall of the city to the Castilian troops of Fernando III in 1236, it was ceded to the knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, also known as Saint John of the Knights, who built a church over the mosque. This would explain the name of both the minaret and the attached church.
Despite the deterioration it presents, it is, after the Mosque, the best example of Caliphal art preserved in the city of cordoba.
It is also the only intact minaret in cordoba; the rest, such as that of Santa Clara or San Lorenzo or that of the Aljama mosque itself were so modified over time that it is difficult to ascribe them to emral or caliphal art.
