Spanish Mosque, Hyderabad

Spanish Mosque in Hyderabad is the only mosque of its kind in the whole of India and is popularly called Aiwan-E-Begumpet or Masjid Iqbal Ud Daula in the local language. Nawab Sir iqbal Ud Daula, who was a Paigah Nawab, had gone on a visit to Spain and was impressed by the style and architecture of the Cathedral-Mosque of Cordoba. Upon his return from Spain, he started the construction of the Spanish Mosque in 1906.

The mosque is built on the same lines as the Cathedral-Mosque of Cordoba in Spain. However, the architectural style of the mosque also borrows heavily from the Jama Masjid Gulbarga that is located in the state of Karnataka. The distinct Moorish architecture in which the mosque is built has given it another name—Mosque of the Moors. The mosque is famous all over the world because it resembles a church from the outside.