[Heritage] from BBC on Cultural Heritage

Muslims seek to worship in ancient mosque
In southern Spain, once the centre of an Islamic civilisation in Europe, the Muslim community has appealed to the Vatican to be allowed to pray alongside Christians in what was once the Great Mosque of Cordoba.
Controversial
For almost 300 years Christians worshipped in this curious makeshift cathedral, but in 1523 the pressure to replace the mosque built up in a militant society that had banished both Jews and Arabs.
Muslims are not allowed to pray inside the Great Mosque
The cathedral chapter got permission to build. But what happened is remarkable.
In other cities like Seville, as the re-conquest squeezed the Muslims out, mosques were demolished and churches covered the sites.
In this case, a new cathedral was built inside the mosque.
It is a shock which visitors today are rarely prepared for. Carved out of the centre of the building, using perhaps 20-25 per cent of the mosque's floor space, is a Renaissance church that could be one of a dozen small churches in Rome.
Marble walls and domes, gilded statues of Christ and the saints, and choir stalls superbly carved in mahogany won from the forests of Spain's new South American colonies, were erected.
They had built the smallest cathedral in Spain in the middle of the largest mosque. Even then the decision was controversial - the town council was against it and Charles V, who sanctioned the project, seemed to regret the intrusion after the deed was done.
Post-bombing fears
Archaeologist Isobel Martinez Richter believes that ''people then must have thought of the mosque as a symbol of tolerance and that the decision not to demolish it was ''a sign of respect for the multicultural history of the city".
"The group who engineered this solution'', she added, ''must have been very wise - I only wish we knew their names."
Spaniards still take pride in their multicultural roots. The wave of immigration from Morocco to fill the jobs created by a booming economy has created few problems.
But since 9/11 and the terrorist attacks in Madrid, can that tolerance be sustained?
The attacks profoundly shocked Spaniards, many of whom are bewildered by the way Muslim fundamentalism has targeted Spain.
Fear and suspicion of Muslims have become part of every day life. It is hardly a propitious time for discussion about Muslim prayers in Cordoba's cathedral, but local politicians have not ruled it out. Now is not the time though to debate the issue, they say.
Isabel Romero, a Spanish convert to Islam, told a local paper that being allowed to pray in the cathedral is not about claiming anything and much less about re-conquering.

"It does not make sense", she said, "that when Muslims go to pray they are told to get up."
Isabel Romero, a Spanish convert to Islam

Southern Spain has many superb Islamic buildings from the past - the Alhambra palace at Granada is one of the best known. In Seville the city's great landmark is the massive minaret of the 12th century mosque.
Cordoba's mosque however is a unique survival - saved only because of a decision in the sixteenth century to insert a Renaissance cathedral in the middle of the building.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3673323.stm