"Very localized" damage after fire at the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba

The images sparked fears of a disaster similar to that of Notre-Dame de Paris. The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, located in Andalusia, southern Spain, escaped the worst after an apparently accidental fire broke out in its heart on Friday evening, before being quickly brought under control by firefighters.

The monument even reopened its doors to the public at 10 a.m. this Saturday, August 9, and will close at 7 p.m., its usual hours. Only the area where the fire broke out will remain inaccessible to the public, a spokesperson for the site said. The fire broke out around 9 p.m. local time in this thousand-year-old building, famous in particular for its forest of marble columns.

Dramatic videos posted on social media showed orange flames and smoke billowing from the monument's high walls, particularly above the San José Gate (on the mosque's south side), which leads to the interior and the famous Patio of the Orange Trees. Fortunately, the firefighters' quick response extinguished the blaze shortly after midnight.

"The firefighters acted so quickly and efficiently that they brought the fire under control ," said Bishop Emeritus of Cordoba, Msgr. Demetrio Fernández. "The situation is under control thanks to God and the firefighters."

" The rapid and masterful intervention of the Cordoba firefighters has prevented a catastrophe," said the mayor of Cordoba, José Maria Bellido, who declared the monument " saved ." According to the mayor, speaking to journalists on Saturday morning, "there is damage, significant damage, but it is very, very localized."

According to preliminary investigations, the fire broke out in the central chapel, located in the so-called Almanzor area, before spreading to part of the vaulted roof, but did not go any further. The management of the mosque-cathedral stored cleaning and audiovisual equipment in this chapel. According to ABC and other media, a mechanical sweeper caught fire on the site.

Built on the site of an earlier Christian basilica by the Umayyad emirs and caliphs between the 8th and 10th centuries, the Mosque of Cordoba was consecrated a cathedral after the Christian reconquest in 1236, and Catholic elements were added, including a vast central chapel in the 16th century.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, the mosque-cathedral, visited by more than 2 million visitors per year, is considered a major monument of Umayyad art and a testament to the Muslim presence in Spain.

Built in 786 by Abd-Al-Rahman I, the mosque was enlarged three times by his successors, eventually covering 23,000 ^m2 and thus becoming the largest mosque in the world after that of Mecca. Today it is presented in the form of a vast quadrangle approximately 180 m long and 130 m wide, with nineteen naves and more than 850 columns topped by ancient and early Christian capitals that form a heterogeneous ensemble of styles.

Since 1236, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba has officially been a church, consecrated as a cathedral, a place of Roman Catholic worship, and legally the property of the Catholic Church. In 2001, a small fire had already damaged the monument, including twenty-five ancient documents kept in the cathedral council archive room.