La primera ampliación (821-852)
Abderraman II (822) enlarged the prayer hall by adding eight extra rows to the south. The decorative style bore clear influences of Abbasi style, probable caused by the political contacts with the eastern Caliphate, and the steady flow of people from the east to the Peninsula. Mohammed I finished off the Gate of San Esteban, whose origins are fairly obscure but date artistically from between the Visigothic period and the Caliphate of Cordoba. Al-Mundir and Abd-Allah were the next two emirs. The former built the treasure room, which has since been lost to posterity; the latter built a secret passageway or sabat, which linked the Caliphal castle to the mihrab (the ruler’s prayer niche).
