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EDMONDO DE AMICIS.
The Mosque of Cordova, which was converted into a cathedral when the / Moors were expelled but which has, notwithstanding, always remained / a Mosque, was built on the ruins of the primitive cathedral not far / from the Guadalquiver. Abd-er-Rahman began to build it in the year 785 / or 786. "Let us build a Mosque," said he, "which will surpass that / of Bagdad, that of Damascus, and that of Jerusalem, which shall be / the greatest temple of Islam and become the Mecca of the Occident. " / The work was begun with ardour; and Christian slaves were made to / carry the stones of razed churches for its foundation. Abd-er-Rahman, / himself, worked an hour every day; in a few years the Mosque was built, / the Caliphs who succeeded Abd-er-Rahman embellished it, and it was / completed after a century of continuous labour.