Where does one even start with the Mezquita? There is so much information out there that I don’t want to write the same boring thing as usual. It is such a remarkable building that it is even hard to put into words. Those of you who have visited already will know what I mean.
I guess you could say that my husband and I were in the right place at the right time when we decided to visit. It was Palm Sunday and didn’t have any idea of visiting hours because of mass. We decided to just go there and if we couldn’t go in yet we would find something else to do until we could. We were in for a nice surprise.
Just as we arrived at the Mezquita the doors were wide open and nobody at the door to take tickets (normally €6.50 per person). It is free to enter during Mass, which is held quite frequently, but you can only be in there if you intend to stay for mass. We figured we would just poke our heads in for a few minutes to see if mass was over or about to begin. After about 5 minutes of wandering around we saw a group starting to form at the door. Lo and behold we were there just in time for Palm Sunday mass. As we approached the door we saw a whole procession of clergy and followers with Palm leaves and olive branches coming through the Puerta del Perdón at the Torre del Alminar (Bell Tower). It was an awesome sight to see the whole procession make their way through the Patio de los Naranjos through the Mezquita and into the cathedral.
As people scrambled for seats we continued to browse around until the security guards started herding everyone to the other side since the middle and one wing were already full. We finally ended up with a seat on the wing closest to the entrance. There was a large screen set up with camera to broadcast to the wings. It ended up being standing-room only for the mass.
Tom and I sat there in awe. We had no idea what they were saying since it was in Spanish, but it was moving, regardless of the language. After an initial verse there were three men, two on the pulpits on the sides and one in the middle who sang for nearly an hour. It was more of a chant, but they had the most beautiful, deep voices that carried throughout the building and in that hour they never missed a cue changing from one person to another every minute or so. It just gave me goose bumps sitting there listening to it. We still don’t know what they were singing about, but I consider myself lucky to have witnessed it.
We didn’t get to see the entire building or spend as much time in there as we originally wanted to, but I came away from the Mezquita with a memory that will last a lifetime. The rest of it I will have to see in other people’s pictures.
The only other thing I would like to add about the Mezquita is a comment about the cathedral plopped down right in the middle of this fine architectural masterpiece in the 16th century. It was almost surreal to sit and watch Mass in this building and turn my head to the left to see such an odd contrast of the double arches and columns in such a sharp reddish color. I have never seen such an odd contrast. It is just something you have to see for yourself to believe.