Mosques were an integral part of Al-Andalus social, political and cultural spheres. With the exception of the remnants of the 10th century
Great Mosque of Cordoba, there is very little documentation available in English language about these old historical mosques. There are only estimates about the number of these mosques. However, there seem to have existed possibly thousands of mosques in Muslim Spain. According to one estimate, there were 3,000 mosques, baths and palaces in Cordoba alone. This was during the 10th century, when Cordoba was one of the largest cities in the world and had over 250,000 buildings spread across an area of twenty four miles long and six miles wide. Today these old mosques in Cordoba are lost without a trace with the exception of the
Great Mosque of Cordoba and a few other ruins and remains like the
Minaret of San Juan. At one time there were 137 mosques in the Medina of
Grenada when it was the capital city of the
Emirate of Granada (1230-1492). During this period the Medina (city) of Granada was one of the largest cities in Europe and welcomed large number of Muslims seeking refuge after being expelled from the Christian controlled areas. This influx doubled its size, and by 1450 made Granada the largest city in Europe in terms of population. The proliferation of mosques was not limited to large cities. Small cities and towns had multiple mosques built for the easy and quick access of the faithful to perform their daily five times Islamic prayers (
Salah) in congregation. There were 18 mosques in Jerez city, of which only the mosque within the fortress of
Alcazar of Jerez de la Frontera survives today.
Ronda a smaller town had 7 or 8 mosques of which today only a minaret tower of a medium-size mosque remains. About 5 former mosques still exist in
Toledo with the original structures at least partially preserved, as shown in the list below. == Al-Andalus ==