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04 · Classical & Gothic Revivals

Moorish Revival

c. 1840–1930

Horseshoe arches, striped brick or stone, onion domes and slender minaret-like towers on synagogues, theatres and hotels.

Look for

Horseshoe arch Dome Minaret Geometric ornament
Dohány Street Synagogue, Budapest, Hungary: an example of Moorish Revival architecture
Dohány Street Synagogue, Budapest, Hungary. Photo: The original uploader was OsvátA at Hungarian Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0
Central Synagogue (Manhattan), New York, New York
Central Synagogue (Manhattan) New York, New York · Jim.henderson, CC0
Henry B. Plant Museum, Tampa, Florida
Henry B. Plant Museum Tampa, Florida · Ebyabe, CC BY 2.5
Spanish Synagogue (Prague), Prague, Czech Republic
Spanish Synagogue (Prague) Prague, Czech Republic · Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0
Vijećnica, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Vijećnica Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina · Ladislav Boháč, CC0

what it is

Moorish Revival borrows forms from the Islamic architecture of Spain and North Africa, above all the Alhambra in Granada. Typical features are horseshoe arches, voussoirs (the wedge-shaped stones of an arch) in alternating colors, onion or bulbous domes, slender towers modeled on minarets, and arabesque ornament, meaning interlaced plant and geometric patterns. Walls are often banded in two colors of brick or stone.

The Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest (1854-1859) has twin octagonal towers with onion domes and walls of alternating yellow and red brick. Central Synagogue in New York (1870-1872) has two octagonal towers with onion domes and a geometric rose window. Plant Hall in Tampa (1888-1891), built as a hotel, has six minarets. Moorish / Mudéjar buildings date from before about 1600 and stand in Spain. Moorish Revival buildings date from the 1800s and later, stand across Europe and the Americas, and use modern structure: Dohány Street has cast-iron supports and Plant Hall poured concrete.

how to spot one

Horseshoe arch An arch whose curve continues past a half circle, so the opening narrows at its base. It is common in Islamic architecture, especially in Spain and North Africa. Dome A rounded roof shaped as half a sphere, often raised on a drum (a circular wall). Domes cover large central spaces on Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Renaissance and Neoclassical buildings. Minaret A tall, slender tower attached to or near a mosque, usually with one or more balconies near the top. It is where the call to prayer, the adhan, was traditionally made. Geometric ornament Decoration made of zigzags, chevrons (V shapes), stepped forms and other repeated geometric shapes instead of plants or figures. It is the main ornament on Art Deco buildings.

Also look for

Rose windowArcadeDecorative tileworkStained glass

history

Moorish Revival began in Europe in the early 19th century, rooted in Romantic interest in the Islamic world. Garden structures at Sheringham Park in Norfolk (about 1812) are an early example. In 1832 Washington Irving published Tales of the Alhambra, which popularized the style in the United States, and Friedrich von Gärtner designed a Moorish synagogue in Munich (destroyed 1938). P. T. Barnum's mansion Iranistan in Bridgeport, Connecticut (1848), with bulbous domes and horseshoe arches, was destroyed in 1858.

Synagogues became the style's best-known use in Central Europe, where Jewish communities associated Moorish forms with the Golden Age of Jewish culture in Spain. Examples include the Semper Synagogue in Dresden (1839-1840), the Dohány Street Synagogue (1854-1859) and the New Synagogue in Berlin (1859-1866). In the United States came Villa Zorayda in St. Augustine (1883) and Central Synagogue in New York (1872). Sarajevo's city hall, Vijećnica, opened in 1896. The style waned by the early 1900s, though some examples, including theatres, appeared into the 1930s.

where to find it

Central European and American cities: Budapest's Dohány Street Synagogue, Prague's Spanish Synagogue, New York's Central Synagogue, and Plant Hall in Tampa.

easy to confuse with

Court of the Lions, Alhambra, an example of Moorish / Mudéjar Moorish / Mudéjar Spain's Islamic tradition: horseshoe arches, carved stucco, glazed tilework, and patterned brick. Dome of the Rock, an example of Islamic Medieval Islamic Medieval Domes and minarets over courtyards, pointed and horseshoe arches, and dense geometric and calligraphic ornament. Westminster Cathedral, an example of Byzantine Revival Byzantine Revival Central domes on round-arched churches, red brick banded with white stone, bell towers, and mosaics, built after 1840.