The only place on earth a 13th-century Catholic cathedral sits inside an 8th-century Moorish mosque — 856 columns of jasper, marble and granite under the most-photographed horseshoe arches in the world. Skip-the-line entry at the Cardenal Herrero gate — no ticket-office queue, even in May.
See ticket optionsLive availability
Standard daytime admission · ages 15 and over
€22
Live availability
Children 10–14 · students 15–26 (with ID) · seniors 65+
€15
Live availability
El Alma de Córdoba after-hours show · ages 11+ recommended
€35
5-minute audio guide
Hand-written, narrated by a heritage host. Five minutes that walk you through the forest of 856 columns, the Byzantine-gold mihrab, the Renaissance cathedral grafted into the centre, and the orange-blossom courtyard that started it all.
Included free with every ticket. No app, no download — plays in any browser.
The Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba is the only major Christian cathedral in the world built inside a functioning Moorish congregational mosque. Construction began in 785 CE under Abd al-Rahman I — first emir of the Umayyad dynasty in Al-Andalus — on the site of a Visigothic basilica. Three later caliphs extended the prayer hall southward and westward across two centuries, reaching its present 23,400 square metres and 856 columns by the late 10th century under al-Hakam II and al-Mansur.
After the Christian Reconquista took Córdoba in 1236, Ferdinand III consecrated the building as a cathedral without demolishing it. For three centuries successive bishops added small chapels around the perimeter while the prayer hall remained intact. Then in 1523, under Charles V, the cathedral chapter inserted a full Renaissance nave, transept and choir into the centre of the mosque — cutting upward through the horseshoe arches to lift a Christian church into the heart of the Islamic hall. Charles V, on visiting the finished work, is famously said to have remarked that the builders had 'destroyed something unique to build something commonplace'.
The result is one of the most architecturally extraordinary buildings in Europe: a Renaissance cathedral surrounded on every side by a forest of double-tiered Moorish arches in alternating jasper, marble and granite. UNESCO inscribed the Mezquita in 1984. It draws approximately 2 million visitors a year and remains an active Catholic cathedral — daily Mass at 09:30, additional services on weekends, with respectful silence expected during all liturgy.
Mezquita Tickets is an independent concierge service — not affiliated with the Cabildo Catedral de Córdoba, the official operator. We facilitate international visitors purchasing timed-entry tickets directly from the operator's official portal, with English-language support and refund protection if we cannot fulfil your booking. Our concierge service fee is included in the displayed price. For those who prefer to purchase directly, the official ticket site is mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es.
Priority timed-entry through the official Cabildo Catedral de Córdoba portal plus full self-guided access to the Mosque-Cathedral interior — the hypostyle prayer hall with its 856 columns and double-tiered horseshoe arches, the Renaissance cathedral inserted into the centre under Charles V, the Capilla de Villaviciosa, the mihrab area, and the side chapels around the perimeter. The Bell Tower and audio guide are sold separately by the operator. The orange-tree courtyard (Patio de los Naranjos) is freely accessible without a ticket.
No. The operator emails a PDF with QR code, and the staff at the entrance scan the QR directly from your phone screen. We recommend taking a screenshot in case of poor signal at the gate, and keeping the PDF easily accessible in your inbox or downloaded to your device.
Adult day-ticket holders do not need ID at the gate. Reduced-rate ticket holders (students 15–26, seniors 65+, children 10–14) must present matching photo ID — a passport, national ID card or student card with date of birth visible. Children under 10 enter free and do not need a separate ticket; we add them to your booking at no charge.
Small day bags and handbags are allowed and pass through a brief security check at the entrance on Calle Cardenal Herrero. Large backpacks, suitcases and oversized luggage may need to be left at the cloakroom near the entrance (capacity limited). Tripods, monopods and drones are not permitted inside the building.
Yes — personal non-flash photography is permitted throughout the building. The most photographed view is the double-tiered red-and-white horseshoe arches looking down the hypostyle hall. The mihrab — the gilded prayer niche from the 10th-century extension under al-Hakam II — is the second iconic shot. Flash, tripods and drones are not allowed. Commercial photography requires a permit from the Cabildo.
The operator issues tickets for a specific 30-minute timed-entry window. Once inside, the visit is self-paced and you can stay as long as the building is open. Arrive within your window — late arrivals beyond 30 minutes may not be admitted. If your plans change, reply to your confirmation email at least 48 hours ahead and we will rebook your slot to any open window in the operator's calendar.
The operator's policy is admission within the printed 30-minute window. Late arrivals are at the discretion of the gate staff and standby admission is not guaranteed, especially in peak season when the next slot is full. If you are running late on the day, message our concierge — we may be able to rebook to a later slot if availability exists.
The Mezquita is an active Catholic cathedral so respectful attire is expected — shoulders covered preferred for adults, no swimwear or beachwear, no overtly inappropriate clothing. There is no formal religious dress code as at some basilicas. Comfortable closed shoes matter more than style: the floor is uneven historic stone and the visit involves 1.5 to 2 hours of standing and walking.
Most of the prayer hall and the Renaissance cathedral interior are step-free and wheelchair-accessible through the main entrance on Calle Cardenal Herrero. The Bell Tower (sold separately) is stair-only and not accessible. The orange-tree courtyard has some uneven cobbles but is largely passable. Loaner wheelchairs may be available — confirm in advance via mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es.
Children under 10 enter free at the operator gate and we add them to your booking at no charge. Children aged 10 to 14 use the Reduced ticket. Teenagers from 15 upwards pay the standard Adult rate unless they qualify as students 15–26 with a valid student card. Bring photo ID for any child travelling on the Reduced rate.
Daily Mass is celebrated at 09:30 in the Capilla Mayor (the Renaissance cathedral inserted into the centre), with additional services on Saturdays, Sundays and major Catholic feast days. The building remains open to visitors during most services but you are asked to remain quiet, stay outside the choir area, and not photograph inside the cathedral nave during liturgy. Full closures for major religious events are rare and announced in advance.
The Cabildo opens the prayer hall free of charge Monday to Saturday from 08:30 to 09:30. It is interior-only (no audio guide, no Bell Tower, no guided support), the queue forms well before 08:30, no booking is possible, and admission ends sharply at 09:30. We mention it because it exists, but for international visitors with limited days in Córdoba a guaranteed timed slot is almost always the better trade-off.
El Alma de Córdoba is the operator's after-hours show — the Mezquita is closed to day visitors, illuminated for the night, and a small-capacity cohort walks a roughly 60-minute light-and-sound circuit through the prayer hall and cathedral. The atmosphere is entirely different from the day visit: cooler, quieter, with theatrical lighting picking out the arches, the mihrab and the Renaissance choir in sequence. Slots sell out 1–2 weeks ahead year-round. The night visit does not replace the day visit — most visitors who do both report them as complementary.
The operator's official audio guide is available in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian, rented at the gate for approximately €5. Our concierge tickets do not include the audio guide by default — you can add it on arrival. The room signs and explanatory panels inside the building are bilingual Spanish and English throughout.
The main visitor entrance is on Calle Cardenal Herrero, on the north side of the building facing the orange-tree courtyard (Patio de los Naranjos). The ticket-scanning point is just inside the courtyard. Bring your QR code on your phone and arrive within your printed 30-minute window. Allow a few extra minutes in peak season for the security screening.
No — the Bell Tower (Torre Campanario) is sold separately by the operator on its own timed-entry slots, with small group sizes and a stair-only climb. The day ticket covers only the Mezquita interior. If you want to climb the tower the same day, book it directly through mezquita-catedraldecordoba.es; our concierge does not currently bundle it. The view from the top across central Córdoba and the Roman Bridge is the best in the city.
Yes — the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos is a 5-minute walk south-west of the Mezquita through the Judería (old Jewish quarter). It is a separate ticketed monument run by the Córdoba city council, not the Cabildo. A typical full-day rhythm is Mezquita in the morning (10:00 slot), lunch in the Judería, Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos in the early afternoon, Roman Bridge and Calahorra tower at sunset. We do not currently bundle the Alcázar with this booking — buy it directly on the day.
Tickets are issued by the operator for a specific date and 30-minute slot and are non-transferable once issued. If your plans change, reply to your confirmation email at least 48 hours before your printed date and we will rebook your visit to any open slot in the operator's calendar. Same-day changes are not always possible because the operator's system locks tickets close to the slot time.