Rosa, BrianJover Báez, Jaime2025-04-102025-04-102017Rosa, B. y Jover Báez, J. (2017). Contested urban heritage: Discourses of meaning and ownership of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain. Journal of Urban Cultural Studies, 4 (1-2), 127-154. https://doi.org/10.1386/jucs.4.1-2.127_1.2050-97902050-9804https://hdl.handle.net/11441/171675Córdoba, Spain is currently at the centre of a national, and increasingly international, dispute surrounding its most recognizable symbol: the Mosque-Cathedral. Built for Muslim worship beginning in the eighth century, and consecrated as a Catholic church in the thirteenth century, this temple is protected as a World Heritage Site (WHS) and is widely promoted as a symbol of religious coexistence. Contemporary conflicts, arising as Córdoba began promoting an economic development model based on cultural tourism, revolve around the appropriate restoration, ownership, and cultural meaning of the monument. The local chapter of Catholic Church, in an attempt to cement its claims of ownership, has increasingly minimized the building’s Muslim past and used the site for evangelization. Exploring contemporary conflicts surrounding this monument offers a paradigmatic case to examine the political economy and cultural politics of urban heritage and the importance of discourse in shaping political agendas around memory, identity and ownership.application/pdfengArchaeologyCórdobaDiscourse analysisHeritageMosque-CathedralPolitics of memoryScalar politicsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://doi.org/10.1386/jucs.4.1-2.127_1