Neo-Mudéjar is a type of

Moorish Revival architecture Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...

practised in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

and to a far lesser extent in

Ibero-America Ibero-America (, ) or Iberian America is generally considered to be the region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former colony, territories of Spain or Portugal). Sp ...

. This

architectural movement The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

emerged as a revival of

Mudéjar style Mudéjar were Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period following the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for Mudéjar art, which was greatly influenced by Islamic art, but produced typically by Christian craftsmen for Chri ...

. It was an architectural trend of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that began in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and quickly spread to other regions in Spain and Portugal. It used Mudéjar style elements such as the

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; ), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the ar ...

, arabesque tiling, and abstract shaped brick ornamentations for the façades of modern buildings.

History

The first examples of Neo-Mudéjar buildings were the Aguirre School designed by Rodríguez Ayuso, the Plaza de Toros in Madrid built in 1874 (now demolished), and the

Casa Vicens Casa Vicens () is a modernist building situated in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona. It is the work of architect Antoni Gaudí and is considered to be his first major project. It was built between 1883 and 1885, although Gaudí drew up the ...

by Antoni Gaudí i Cornet. The style then became almost "compulsory" for the construction of bullfight rings all around Spain, Portugal and the Hispanoamerican countries. In Madrid it became one of its most representative styles of the period, not only for public buildings, like the Aguirre School or the bullring of

Las Ventas The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, known simply as Las Ventas , is the largest bullfighting ring in Spain, located in the Guindalera quarter of the Salamanca district of Madrid. It was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. Its seating capacity of 23,798, ...

, but also for housing. The use of cheap materials, mainly brick for exteriors, made it a popular style in new neighborhoods. Neo-Mudéjar was often combined with

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

by architects such as Francisco de Cubas, Antonio María Repullés y Vargas and

Francisco Jareño Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Commu ...

. After the

Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 (; ) was a world's fair held in Seville, Spain, from 9 May 1929 until 21 June 1930. Countries in attendance of the exposition included: Portugal, the United States, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, C ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, another stream of Neo-Mudéjar features appeared known as Andalusian Architectural Regionalism. The Plaza de España (Seville) or the ''ABC'' newspaper headquarters (Madrid) are examples of this new style that combined traditional

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n architecture with Mudéjar features.

List of notable Neo-Mudéjar buildings

*Arenas de Barcelona *Gran Teatro Falla,

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

* Las Ventas bullring, Madrid *

, Barcelona *

Monserrate Palace The Monserrate Palace () is a palatial villa located near Sintra, the traditional summer resort of the Portuguese court in the foothills overlooking the Atlantic Ocean north west of the capital, Lisbon. History According to legend, there was ...

, Sintra *Church of Santa Cruz, Madrid *Palacete Conceição e Silva, Lisbon *Church of La Paloma, Madrid * Quinta do Relógio, Sintra *Water tower (now exhibition space) Torre de Canal Isabel II, in Madrid. *

Escuelas Aguirre The Aguirre Schools (Spanish: ''Escuelas Aguirre'') is a notable Neo-Mudéjar style building in Madrid, Spain. Located at Calle de Alcalá, 62, it is named after Lucas Aguirre, a Spanish philanthropist who left funds for the construction of school ...

, Madrid *

Pena Palace The Pena Palace () is a Romanticism, Romanticist castle in São Pedro de Penaferrim, in the List of municipalities of Portugal, municipality of Sintra Municipality, Sintra, on the Portuguese Riviera. The castle stands on the top of a hill in th ...

, Sintra * Toledo railway station *

Nazaré Bullring The Nazaré bullring () is situated on the west coast of Portugal in the village of Sitio in Nazaré, Portugal, Nazaré, historic Estremadura Province (1936–1976), Estremadura province. The present bullring was built in 1897 in Moorish Revival ...

, Nazaré *

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

Post-Office * Campo Pequeno bullring, Lisbon *

Morisco Kiosk The Morisco Kiosk (''Local'': Kiosco Morisco, ''English'': Moorish Kiosk) is a kiosk structure in Colonia Santa María la Ribera in Mexico City, Mexico. It is situated in the Alameda Park in the center of the Colonia neighborhood, at the intersect ...

, Mexico City *

Palacio de Orleans-Borbón The ''Palacio de Orleans-Borbón'' rises in the Spanish town of Sanlucar de Barrameda in the Andalusian province of Cádiz. It was built between 1853 and 1870 as a summer residence for Antoine, Duke of Montpensier and Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duche ...

(now city hall),

Sanlúcar de Barrameda Sanlúcar may refer to: * Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a city in the Province of Cádiz, Spain * Sanlúcar de Guadiana, a village in the Province of Huelva, Spain * Sanlúcar la Mayor, a city in the Province of Seville, Spain *Sanlúcar de Albaida, forme ...

*Palacio de Doña Trinidad Grund (now town hall),

Carratraca Carratraca is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 56 km from Ronda and from the provincial capital of Málaga. It is ...

* Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville

Gallery

File:Alcalá de Henares (RPS 19-08-2007) Palacio Laredo, entrada principal.jpg, Palacio Laredo in

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

, 1884 File:Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas (Madrid) 04 modified.jpg, Las Ventas bullring, Madrid, 1929 File:Sevilla Spain Pabellon-Mudéjar-01.jpg, Mudéjar Pavilion, Museum of Arts and Traditions,

, 1914 File:Arc de Triomf Barcelona.jpg,

Arc de Triomf The Arc de Triomf (), translated: Arch of Victory, is a memorial arch in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was built by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair. The arch crosses over the wi ...

, Barcelona, 1888 File:Lisboa, Campo Pequeno (7).jpg, Campo Pequeno bullring in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

(Portugal), 1892 File:Toledo station (38568788886).jpg, The Toledo railway station, 1919 File:Toledo_Train_Station_October_2022.jpg, The Toledo railway station, 1919 File:EdAníbalG001.jpg, Neo-Mudéjar building in

, 1909 File:002059 - Madrid (4485191184).jpg, Church of Niño Jesús in Madrid, by Francisco Jareño, 1885 File:Edificio del Reloj en la Arganzuela (14557320052).jpg, Casa del Reloj,

Arganzuela Arganzuela is one of the 21 districts of the city of Madrid, Spain. Geography Position Arganzuela is located in central-southern Madrid, separated from Latina, Carabanchel and Usera by the river Manzanares. The other bordering districts are ...

, Madrid, 1933 File:Gran Teatro Falla.JPG, Gran Teatro Falla of

, 1884 File:ICADE (Alberto Aguilera 23, Madrid) 01.jpg,

Comillas Pontifical University Comillas Pontifical University () is a private Catholic Church, Catholic university run by the Spanish Province of the Society of Jesus in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. The university is involved in a number of academic exchange programmes, work practi ...

building in Madrid File:Torre del Reloj, Villarrubia de los Ojos.jpg, Clock Tower in

Villarrubia de los Ojos Villarrubia de los Ojos is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Ciudad Real, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 281.86 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 9,762. Geography ...

, Ciudad Real, Spain. File:Alcalá de Henares (RPS 12-08-2007) Ermita de la Virgen del Val, fachada principal.png, Ermita de la Virgen del Val in

, 1926

References

External links

*Cunill, Inmaculada Rodríguez
''ARQUITECTURA DEL SIGLO XIX''
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Neo-Mudejar Neo-Mudéjar architecture Revival architectural styles House styles * Architecture in Spain Architecture in Portugal

History

List of notable Neo-Mudéjar buildings

Gallery

See also

References

External links