It is believed that Islam as a religion is designed for the urban community rather than is of a nomadic nature. However, it was shortly changed during nine AD when its religious role was replaced by political incentives when the Muslim world broke its ties with the caliphate in the East. It is also believed that Islam has had an enormous impact on the architecture of the cities it was once dominating (Saoud, 2002, p. 2).
This essay is divided into four chapters: 1st part will compare and contrast the medieval European and Islamic cities between 9-13 centuries by considering the origins of both cultures of the cities and religious, spatial and historic heritage. Besides, it will look at the plan and arrangement of medieval cities’; namely, facilities such as market place, residential areas and government headquarters will be compared. Lastly, the paper will discuss whether one may conclude that there is such a thing as a “medieval Mediterranean city“? And if there is, then why?
The particularity of Islamic architecture is worth mentioning as it is designed to accommodate not only spiritual needs of the inhabitants but also meets the climate and topographical issues linked with the hot weather characteristic for Islamic cities (Saoud, 2002, p. 4).
The timeframe (9-13 AD) that this essay addresses falls on the Dark Age in Europe, therefore, some historic facts needs to be considered, when discussing this topic, more precisely, the impact of Barbarians’ invasion in Europe; the impact was significant as it caused the destruction of dozens of the cities and some have completely vanished. Unlike to Islamic urban lifestyle, in medieval European cities the rural lifestyle took place. The reason behind it was Barbarians who used to be hunters and close to the nature, therefore, their attitude has been transformed on the dominated by them soil and its inhabitants.
Eventually, Germanic settlements were created by single farmsteads. These farmsteads were cultivated independently and later transformed into hamlets, that represents the basis of the formation of the village (Gutjahr, 1999, p.3).
Expectedly, the notion of urban life stemming from Roman lifestyle has been erased by Barbarians; however, "ideas of law, organization and administration of cities, city life, and its municipal organization was preserved"(Gutjahr, 1999, p.3). The remained Roman principles contributed to the recovery of cities and urban life in the 10th century once Mediterranean trade routes re-opened (Gutjahr, 1999, p.3).
The impact of Barbarians’ invasion caused the formation of two notion of lifestyle during the Dark Age in Europe, precisely: the world of nature and the world of urban culture, the latter managed to remain in the soils of the Europeans; since cities at the time were destroyed, however, the urban culture did not die out but memorized by Europeans. The oppositions of these two cultural norms or ways of living: urban and rural were further deepened by the secular and ecclesiastical worlds, former driven by Holy Roman Emperor and the latter by pope of Rome. Although, both contributed to the emergence of what is now called the city; as the fortresses, the castles and the royal palaces later have transformed into the cities; ecclesiastical world headed by the pope of Rome advocated the concept of urban lifestyle and the creation and spread of the monasteries, churches and cloisters resulted in creation of the cities around these facilities later (Gutjahr, 1999, pp.4, 5).
Indeed, the formation of the cities in the Islamic world corresponds with the same activity in medieval European cities, namely, grow of settlements around the religious facilities with an additional aspect in the case of European mediaeval city, where the notion of secular was important.
In the middle ages, three elements dominated the city interior: “Church element consisting of cathedrals, cloisters, and monasteries; secular element - castle or fortress - especially dominant in England and Germany; civic element - Walls and gates, townhouses, town hall, guild hall, market place” (Gutjahr, 1999, p.28). European medieval town includes religious facilities such as churches and monasteries and civic buildings like the fortresses, town hall, market place, colleges and hospitals and certainly tall city walls surrounding the town. “
Importantly,” Medieval architecture and urban design served this God; together, they display a rank order of values” (Gutjahr, 1999, p.32). Whereas in the case of Islamic medieval cities', the mosque (church) has a focal point so location, since around it are arranged madrassas (teaching facilities), markets and living houses. Certainly, churches are significant in European city’s architecture as well, yet, it is not as dominant in the spatial sense; because cities are built not only around churches but also around the kings' and emperors' castles and fortresses. The merge of these two cultures are observed in so-called Mediterranean city or even more broadly Mediterranean culture. The influence of the Islamic culture on the south European culture is of great significance, yet, the same could be said, about Europeans colonial past, that deeply penetrated the urban culture of the Islamic cities’. It is difficult to argue with full certainty, that there is a medieval Mediterranean city, but it is rather easy to conclude, that there is a Mediterranean culture that is a mix of cultural norms and influences affected by an influx of Islamic culture on one hand, and by European culture on the other.
Conclusion
Overall, there is a certain difference in the viewing the role of the church in both cultures, as in architectural terms, in European cities, there are relatively well seen two major concepts that contributed to the reemergence of the destroyed by Barbarians city lifestyle: church and the government, whether king or emperor. In the case of Islamic medieval cities, it was said, that Islamic city's culture is strongly an urban-like, as mosque ' dictates' what should be around. This difference has been organically merged in the architecture of once dominated soil by Islamic culture that is broadly called a Mediterranean culture.
References
Saoud, R. (2002). Introduction to the Islamic City. Manchester: Conyngham Road, Viktoria Park
Gutjahr, C.M. (1999). Medieval Cities. Melbourne: the University of Melbourne
