The old basilica was accordingly demolished and the mosque begun. The khalifa set apart a portion of his revenues for the work, and laboured himself upon it for an hour each day. Thus encouraged, his subjects of all ranks made it a point of honour to contribute either their personal labour or their money to the great work. Though most of the columns came from the marble quarries of the neighbouring town of Cabra, as many as possible were brought from the most distant parts of the Mohammedan empire, from the works of civilizations which Islam had subdued. The mosque was to be a monument to the triumph of the Crescent. Its dimensions as projected by the founder were four times less than those of the existing building. The successors of Abd-ur-Rahman obtained the assistance of Byzantine craftsmen, and embellished the mosque with rich mosaics. Almost a quarter of the actual building was added by Al Hakem II., and the eastern half by Al Mansûr. To effect this last expansion, a cottage beneath a palm tree had to be acquired. The old lady to whom it belonged refused to budge till an exactly similar abode was found for her. This was done at last, after a diligent search, and a liberal donation made to her to boot. [Illustration: CORDOVA--MOORISH MILL] Thus was reared this mighty temple of Islam on European soil, at a time when the state of the Christian world went far to justify the exultant words of the khalifa: "Let us build the Kaaba of the West upon the site of a Christian temple, which we will destroy, so that we may set forth how the Cross shall fall and become abased before the True Prophet. Allah will never place the world beneath the feet of those who make themselves the slaves of drink and sensuality, while they preach penitence and the joys of chastity, and while extolling poverty, enrich themselves to the loss of their neighbours. For these, the sad and silent cloister; for us, the crystalline fountain and the shady grove; for them, the rude and unsocial life of dungeon-like strongholds; for us, the charm of social life and culture; for them, intolerance and tyranny; for us, a ruler who is our father; for them, the darkness of ignorance; for us, letters and instruction widespread as our creed; for them, the wilderness, celibacy, and the doom of the false martyr; for us, plenty, love, brotherhood and eternal joy." The face of the world has changed somewhat in ten centuries.