While the first enclosure, completed in the 8th century, covered less than 0.56 ha, by the 11th the Great Mosque occupied 2.17 ha - a space large enough to accommodate 25,000 people. Torres Balbás indicated that this kind of walled patio with trees was only found in Al-Andalus, since mosques in other countries were never home to vegetation. The olive trees, orange trees and palms may have been introduced by Christians in the 13th century – hence the name still used today: El Patio de los Naranjos [the Orange Trees Patio]. The mosque patios seen by Münzer in Almeria and Granada a few years after the Christian conquest were all home to planted trees.
Source:
Leopoldo Torres Balbás. La Mezquita de Córdoba y las ruinas de Madinat al-Zahra, Madrid, 1952 p. 22.
