RELIGIOUS CONSTRUCTION AND URBANIZATION IN AL-ANDALUS DURING THE ISLAMIC PERIOD: ISHBILIYA

Abstract

In this review, the situation of the religious buildings that were built in the period that started with the entry of the Muslims to Seville until 1248 when the Christians captured the city, and the influence of these buildings on urban planning have been evaluated. The mosques and masjids, which were determined by taking the written documents and excavation results as of Omayyad Emirate as bases, and the issue of how these buildings shaped the urban settlement form in Al-Andalus during Islamic Period have been examined. The excavations on Islamic Period in Ishbiliya have increased in recent years, and more data have been obtained on the religious buildings such as mosques and masjids with these excavations. These data have caused that the theses that were put forward on this issue in the past are revised. The interpretations that were made in the past claimed that the number of the mosques and masjids in Ishbiliya in the Almoravid and Almohad period was few. Studies have revealed that the religious buildings in Ishbiliya were more than the predicted number, and that the Islamic city in Al-Andalus that had the most mosques and masjids was Ishbiliya. With these data, the urban structure of Islamic Period, and the continuing Islamic influences in Al-Andalus on the Christian urban planning after the Conquista in the Middle Ages have been revealed.