The court has a rectangular pattern of orange trees set in a grid of irrigation channels with stone circles for each of the trees. The trunks of the trees act as forecourt to the forest of columns (850 No.) inside the Great Mosque (now a cathedral). The mosque was built by the Umayyad Abd-ur-Rahman after he took power 756 AD, to rival the mosque in Damsacus. Cordoba was then the largest and most advanced city in Europe. It was re-taken by the Christians in 1236, led by Ferdinand III. The patio was originally planted with palm trees. The orange trees from which the Orange Tree Court takes its name were planted in the 15th century.