Mezquita Del Cristo De La Luz

The Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz is the oldest Islamic building in Toledo and one of the few surviving Moorish mosques from the time of the caliphate in Al-Andalus, the Islamic part of Spain. It was built in the year 999, or 390 in the Islamic calendar, according to an inscription in Kufic script on the façade, and it was originally known as the Mosque of Bab al-Mardum, named after one of the gates of the city. The mosque was a small neighbourhood place of prayer, one of about ten that existed in Toledo under Muslim rule, and it stands near the Puerta del Sol, a medieval gate, on the slope that leads up from the Tagus river. It is a quiet, compact building, set in a small garden, and it gives a vivid sense of the city’s past.

The structure is a square hall of about eight metres on each side, divided by four columns into nine equal bays, each of which is covered by its own dome. The domes are vaulted with ribs in brick, and each one has a different pattern, a feature that shows the skill of the builders and the influence of the great Mosque of Córdoba, the capital of the caliphate. The columns and capitals were reused from earlier, Visigothic buildings, and they differ from one another, which adds to the sense of an old building made from the pieces of older ones. The exterior walls are of brick and stone, and the upper part of the façade has bands of decoration in brick, with interlaced arches, a characteristic of the Umayyad caliphal style.

The building changed function after the Christian conquest of Toledo in 1085. King Alfonso VI turned it into a church, the Church of Cristo de la Luz, and in the twelfth century a new apse was added at the east end, built in the Mudéjar style, in brick, with a series of blind arches, so the building now combines Islamic and Christian architecture. The name by which it is known today comes from a legend. According to tradition, when Alfonso VI entered the city with El Cid, the horse of the king knelt in front of the mosque, and when the wall was opened, a statue of Christ, which had been hidden by the Visigoths, was found with a lamp still burning in front of it, the light that gave the church its name, Christ of the Light. The story is a legend, but it is told to visitors and is part of the monument’s identity.

The interior is simple and bare, without decoration, and its charm lies in the geometry of the columns and domes. A visit takes about twenty minutes, and the garden outside offers a view across the city. Admission is charged, with hours that vary by season, so check locally.

The mosque is in the western part of the old town, within easy walking distance of the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca and the Cathedral of Toledo, and the Alcázar and Plaza de Zocodover lie to the east. It is a good place to understand how Toledo came to be known as the city of three cultures.