In 1523, the cathedral authorities - opposed by the city council but backed by King Carlos of Castile and Aragon - began building a massive chancel and choir, in very middle of the mosque. How bizarre a decision this was is best seen from an aerial photo. It's as if a typical soaring Gothic/Renaissance-style cathedral has suddenly fallen from the sky into the middle of a flat-roofed rectangular, Mecca-facing mosque.Apparently Carlos had never seen the mosque beforehand, but when he came to Cordoba for the unveiling of the new parts of the cathedral, he reportedly said in disgust: "You have built here what you might have built anywhere, but you have destroyed what was unique in the world.