01. When two cultures build together
During the Reconquista the Christian kingdoms conquer al-Andalus, Muslim Spain, step by step. But many Muslims stay on under Christian rule. They are called mudéjares – and their craftsmanship becomes indispensable. Mudéjar as a style name is coined only in 1859, by the historian José Amador de los Ríos.
The style appears as early as the 12th century in Sahagún in León, where the churches of San Tirso and San Lorenzo are built in brick to Islamic patterns. In the 13th to 16th centuries it spreads through Aragon, Castile, Toledo and Andalusia, and into Portugal. It lays itself like a garment over Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance buildings: the towers of Teruel are patterned with brick and glazed tiles, and the Alcázar of Seville gains halls of stucco and carved wood.
The towers and churches of Aragon became World Heritage in 1986 – first as "Mudéjar Architecture of Teruel", extended to all of Aragon in 2001.
In the 19th century the style returns as Neo-Mudéjar, with iron and glass behind the brick arches. Spanish bullrings, railway stations and exhibition buildings – such as the Plaza de España in Seville, built for the 1929 exhibition – carry it on.
02. How to spot it
- 1.Brick as both structure and ornament
- 2.Glazed tiles – azulejos – in patterns
- 3.Horseshoe and multifoil arches
- 4.Carved wooden ceilings, artesonado, with geometric star patterns
- 5.Stucco and interlacing patterns on the walls
03. The giveaway
The tower. A brick church tower with raised lattice patterns and inlaid green or white tiles is almost always Mudéjar.
Read the façade
- Crenellation
- Lozenge patterns in brick
- A band of glazed tiles
- Paired arched windows
04. Where to see it
- San Tirso, Sahagún12th century, one of the earliest
- The tower of San Salvador, TeruelWorld Heritage
- The Alcázar, SevilleMudéjar Gothic and Renaissance
- Casa de Pilatos, Sevilleearly 16th century
- Plaza de España, SevilleNeo-Mudéjar, 1929
05. In the app
2 places in this style in Everyday Grandeur, added by the app's users. Tap a place to see it on the map.
06. Often confused with
Moorish architecture. Moorish architecture was built under Muslim rule; Mudéjar is Islamic craft in Christian service, often on churches. Gothic. Many Mudéjar churches have a Gothic structure – but the surface is Islamic.
Sources
- Wikipedia (en): "Mudéjar art" (bygger bl.a. på Rafael López Guzmán: Arquitectura mudéjar, och L. P. Harvey: Islamic Spain 1250 to 1500, 1992)
- UNESCO: "Mudejar Architecture of Aragon" (världsarv 1986, utvidgat 2001)