Islamic - European Impact
The history of Spanish colonial architecture is commonly found in the southern USA society. Its popularity soared through during the early 19th century—between 1915 to 1931—when the Panama-California exposition was ongoing. However, way before this style was influenced in North America, it had historical backgrounds in both Mexico and Spain.
A Middle East cultural writer and author named Diana Darke recently published a book based on the story of the Saracens, where Islamic designs have been robbed by corrupt colonizers. Diana’s book, ‘Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe’, was inspired by the lack of acknowledgement received as a response to Notre-Dame’s destructive event back in April 15, 2019.
Notre-Dame on fire during April 15th, 2019, in Paris, France.
In war-torn Syria stands the Qalb Lozeh church which inspired the architecture of Notre-Dame.
Diana Darke tweets out in an effort to clear out the misconception of patriotism held in many European countries regarding landmarks having ancestral design, when in reality it has been influenced by the Middle East. She speaks in memory of the Notre-Dame fire event, saying, ‘Notre-Dame’s architectural design, like all Gothic cathedrals in Europe, comes directly from Syria’s Qalb Lozeh 5th century church - Crusaders brought the ‘twin tower flanking the rose window’ concept back to Europe in the 12th century. It is its #idlib province, still standing…’
Hagia Sofia Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, that has inspired many church interior designs.
Barcelona's La Sagrada Familia Cathedral.
What drove her to educating the public on this global issue is the Western ideology, where the European world claims superiority over the Islamic world. So, it is hard for them to accept that they were actually influenced by Islamic culture. This is the sad reality of living in an age where Islamophobia is implemented by colonial landmarks built by Europeans.