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Architectural style · 8th–15th century in al-Andalus and North Africa

Moorish architecture

Morisk arkitektur

Horseshoe arches, stalactite vaults and courtyards where water murmurs. In Córdoba and Granada, the Muslim rulers build some of the most beautiful rooms in the world – and the 19th century falls in love with them.

How to spot it Find it in the app

The style in timeDrag to travel in time

  1. Zigguratc. 2200–500 BC
  2. Ancient Greek architecturec. 700–30 BC
  3. Roman architecturec. 500 BC–AD 400
  4. Nabataean architecturec. 300 BC–AD 106
  5. Byzantine architecturec. 330–1453 in the Eastern Roman Empire
  6. Moorish architecture8th–15th century in al-Andalus and North Africa
  7. Carolingian architecturec. 780–900 in the Frankish Empire
  8. Novgorod and Pskovc. 1045–1600 in north-western Russia
  9. Norman architecturec. 1050–1200
  10. Romanesquec. 1050–1250
  11. Mudéjarc. 1100–1600
  12. Gothicc. 1235–1530
  13. Brick Gothicc. 1250–1530
  14. Late Gothicc. 1400–1530
  15. Manuelinec. 1490–1530
  16. Renaissancec. 1520–1650
  17. Palladian architecturec. 1550–1800
  18. Dutch Renaissancec. 1560–1650 in the Netherlands and Flanders
  19. Baroquec. 1640–1730
  20. Carolean Baroquec. 1680–1720
  21. Georgian architecture1714–1830
  22. Rocococ. 1730–1775
  23. Neoclassicismc. 1750–1850
  24. Gustavianc. 1772–1810
  25. Karl Johan stylec. 1810–1850
  26. Victorian architecture1837–1901
  27. Gothic Revivalc. 1840–1910
  28. Historicismc. 1840–1900
  29. Industrial architecturec. 1850–1950
  30. Neo-Renaissancec. 1850–1900
  31. Swiss chalet stylec. 1850–1900
  32. Landshövdingehus1875–1945
  33. Neo-Baroquec. 1880–1910
  34. Beaux-Artsc. 1830–1920
  35. National Romanticismc. 1890–1920
  36. Art Nouveauc. 1896–1914
  37. Art Decoc. 1910–1940
  38. 1910s Neoclassicismc. 1910–1920
  39. Bauhaus1919–1933
  40. Swedish Gracec. 1920–1930
  41. Functionalismc. 1930–1950
  42. Socialist classicismc. 1933–1955
  43. Post-war Swedish modernismc. 1940–1960
  44. Brutalismc. 1950–1975
  45. The Record Yearsc. 1955–1975
  46. The Million Programme1965–1974
  47. DeconstructivismFrom the 1980s
  48. Postmodernismc. 1980–1995
  49. LonghouseStone Age to Viking Age
  50. Log houseThe Middle Ages onwards
  51. Raised storehouseIron Age to 20th century
  52. Swedish vernacularc. 1600–1900
  53. Croft and cottagec. 1700–1900
  54. Decorated farmhouses of Hälsinglandc. 1700–1900
  55. Half-timberingThe Middle Ages to the 19th century
  56. Sámi goahtiFrom prehistory to the present day
  57. Seljuk architecturec. 1040–1300
  58. Persian architectureIran
  59. British Colonialc. 1700–1950 in the British Empire

01. Paradise behind the walls

In 711 a Muslim army crosses the Strait of Gibraltar, and for almost eight hundred years much of the Iberian Peninsula is al-Andalus. Together with Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia it forms the western Islamic world – and an architecture of its own grows here.

The Great Mosque of Córdoba is founded in 785 by Abd ar-Rahman I and enlarged in several stages, with its forest of columns and two-coloured horseshoe arches. The caliphal palace city of Madinat al-Zahra is begun in 936. Under the Almohads in the 12th century minarets such as the Kutubiyya in Marrakesh and the Giralda in Seville rise. And finally, under the Nasrids in the 14th century, the art reaches its peak in the Alhambra in Granada – the Court of the Lions with its slender columns and stalactite vaults.

Most of the beauty is inside. The exterior is closed; within the walls wait courtyards with water, stucco, carved wood and tiles in geometric patterns.

After 1492 the style lives on in Morocco – and in the 19th century it becomes the height of fashion in Europe and America as Moorish Revival. In Stockholm, Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander designs the Great Synagogue, opened in 1870, with Oriental and Moorish Revival features.

02. How to spot it

  • 1.Horseshoe and multifoil arches
  • 2.Muqarnas – stalactite vaults hanging like honeycomb
  • 3.Stucco, carved wood and zellij – geometric tilework
  • 4.Courtyards with water, often divided in four
  • 5.A closed exterior, a rich interior

03. The giveaway

The arch. An arch that is wider at the top than at its foot – a horseshoe arch – ideally striped in two colours, points to al-Andalus.

Read the façade

  1. The horseshoe arch
  2. Striped voussoirs
  3. Alfiz – the frame around the arch

04. Architects and builders

  • Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander (Stockholms synagoga)

05. Where to see it

  • The Great Mosque of Córdobafounded 785
  • Madinat al-Zahra, Córdobabegun 936
  • The Giralda, SevilleAlmohad minaret
  • The Alhambra, Granada14th century
  • The Great Synagogue, StockholmMoorish Revival, opened 1870

06. In the app

1 place in this style in Everyday Grandeur. Tap it to see it on the map.

07. Often confused with

Mudéjar. Mudéjar is Islamic craft under Christian rule, often on churches; Moorish architecture was built by and for Muslim rulers.

Sources

  • Wikipedia (en): "Moorish architecture" (bygger bl.a. på Jonathan M. Bloom: Architecture of the Western Islamic World, 2020, och Henri Marçais: L'architecture musulmane d'Occident, 1954)
  • Wikipedia (en): "Great Synagogue of Stockholm"
  • Maja Hultman: "The Construction of the Great Synagogue in Stockholm, 1860–1870", Arts 9:1 (2020)

Text: Pontus Bovin · Last updated 9 November 2026

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