|
Following the lateral side (occidental) of the Mosque–Cathedral we will find  Saint Esteban Door, probably one of richest and representative doors of the Muslim period. A book written in the XVIII century tells: “the next door, that of Saint Sebastian, for being opposite to this hospital….” Salado. In this way was described by Ramirez de las Casas Deza, the Saint Sebastian door, as the name of the nearly hospital, that after a mistake, it would be called Saint Esteban Door.
The door was directly linked to the oratory of the Primitive Mosque, built at the age of Abd al-Rahman I, in the VIII century. Besides he suffered an important restoration at the age period of Muhammed I, in the IX century, a new horseshoe arch was built with different characteristics, and with a lot of decoration and important inscriptions. As the Deanes door, there is a shouldered flat arch, on it there is a blind horseshoe arch, with alfiz. Then it is ended with a tejaroz (little roof) of stones , with rolls of modillones, and on this merlons. The vaissoirsare alterned with stones and bricks, those are decorated with vegetable and symmetric elements. Even the entrance is decorated. The most important characteristic are the cufics inscriptions; which say : “ in the name of Allah, the Clement and Merciful sent the Emir Muhammed ben Abd al-Rahman to build the Mosque (the mercies are on him and on those who accompany him). “And it was finished in the 1st year and two hundred (855 A.C) with the Allah Benediction and lucky protection”. Its importance is the date that tells us, that it’s the most ancient data of the building. |
