The Great Cathedral of Cordoba (Spain), Who Owns it?

Photo Source: Wikipedia

In the headline of The Guardian, it reported that the government of Cordoba (Spain) rejected a Catholic claim over an ownership of a Cathedral turned mosques by the invading Muslims between 711 AD to 788 AD which was returned to Catholics in 1236 AD and was converted to a Catholic Church cathedral.

Due to its antiquity and it's cultural and historical importance, the UNESCO declared in 1984 as one of the prized World Heritage site with "exceptional universal value", thus rejecting any group or entity of its ownership.

But who really owns the Cathedral?

Here is what I've got from Wikipedia:

"The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba [2] (Spanish: Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba), also known as the Great Mosque of Córdoba (Spanish: Mezquita de Córdoba),[3] whose ecclesiastical name is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (Spanish: Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción),[4] is the Catholic cathedral of the Diocese of Córdoba dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and located in the Spanish region of Andalusia.[5] The structure is regarded as one of the most accomplished monuments of Moorish architecture.

The site was originally built by the Visigoths as the Catholic Basilica of Saint Vincent of Lérins.[6][7][8] When Muslims conquered Spain in 711, the church was first divided into Muslim and Christian halves. This sharing arrangement of the site lasted until 784, when the Christian half was purchased by the Emir 'Abd al-Rahman I, who then proceeded to demolish the entire structure and build the grand mosque of Cordoba on its ground.[7][9] Córdoba returned to Christian rule in 1236 during the Reconquista, and the building was converted to a Roman Catholic church, culminating in the insertion of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the 16th century.[7][8]

Since the early 2000s, Spanish Muslims have lobbied the Roman Catholic Church to allow them to pray in the cathedral.[10][11] This Muslim campaign has been rejected on multiple occasions, both by the church authorities in Spain and by the Vatican.[10][12]

It must be also noted that the same fate of the famous Hagia Sophia Christian Cathedral in Istanbul (Turkey) fell at the hands of the invading Ottoman  Turks (Muslims) in 1453 AD.  As practiced by Muslim conquerors, non-Muslim holy sites were turned into mosques, either to humiliate the conquered state or to showcase the "glorious" victory of Islam over the unbelievers.

Photo Source: Wikipedia

Similarly, the fate of the fallen Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem in 70 AD was replaced by the Dome of the Rock Mosque when Jerusalem fell under the invading Muslims in 637 AD.

The Dome of the Rock sitting on top of the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Here is a list of Converted non-Muslim Place of Worship into Mosques!