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Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe
Against a backdrop of Islamophobia, Europeans are increasingly airbrushing from history their cultural debt to the Muslim world. But this legacy lives on in some of Europe's most recognizable buildings, from Notre-Dame Cathedral to the Houses of Parliament.
This beautifully illustrated book reveals the Arab and Islamic roots of Europe's architectural heritage. Diana Darke traces ideas and styles from vibrant Middle Eastern centers like Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, via Muslim Spain, Venice and Sicily into Europe. She describes how medieval crusaders, pilgrims and merchants encountered Arab Muslim culture on their way to the Holy Land; and explores more recent artistic interaction between Ottoman and Western cultures, including Sir Christopher Wren's inspirations in the "Saracen" style of Gothic architecture.
Recovering this long yet overlooked history of architectural "borrowing," Stealing from the Saracens is a rich tale of cultural exchange, shedding new light on Europe's greatest landmarks.
This beautifully illustrated book reveals the Arab and Islamic roots of Europe's architectural heritage. Diana Darke traces ideas and styles from vibrant Middle Eastern centers like Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, via Muslim Spain, Venice and Sicily into Europe. She describes how medieval crusaders, pilgrims and merchants encountered Arab Muslim culture on their way to the Holy Land; and explores more recent artistic interaction between Ottoman and Western cultures, including Sir Christopher Wren's inspirations in the "Saracen" style of Gothic architecture.
Recovering this long yet overlooked history of architectural "borrowing," Stealing from the Saracens is a rich tale of cultural exchange, shedding new light on Europe's greatest landmarks.
328 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
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1,415 people want to read
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November 10, 2023
The title alone is an insult to historians everywhere and intellectually dishonest. Stealing? She can barely make the case for some slight borrowing.
She keeps telling readers that we’ve forgotten about the eastern influence on Europe. Who is she referring to? Most people she is talking about don’t know anything about anything, so what’s her point? The forgotten history of the Moors, except it isn’t, not by anyone who’s read a history book. The author acts as if everyone living in Europe is completely ignorant of the Moorish culture and to back up her claim, she ambushes some idiot parish clergyman. How many residents of Istanbul know that their city was one of the centers of Christianity for over a millennia before it was attacked with its citizens killed and enslaved? As long as we’re dragging up the past, let’s drag it up on both sides.
"It can’t be proven but it’s likely that�" God, I wish she would stop writing that, but she does it again and again. I really hate writers who want so desperately for their point to come out that they simply lose every bit of objectivity in their research and find examples of their premise where none exist.
France most certainly isn’t undergoing a “spiritual renaissance� after the fire in Notre Dame. The French were stunned simply because the cathedral is such an iconic part of the Paris skyline and has been for 700 years. She also mentions the terrorist attacks in Paris carried out by Muslim extremists as pushing the French towards religion. Simply not true and she gives not even a shred of evidence to back up this claim.
In response to these upheavals and the perceived threat of Islam, many sought to revive a Christian national identity. France, that most secular of countries where even wearing a crucifix to work is not allowed, is having a religious renaissance, a spiritual awakening.
How many is “many� in this statement? Five people? Ten? This “religious renaissance� is just patently not fucking true.
She claims that the mosque minarets led directly to Christian bell towers which is simply absurd, as if no one had ever considered making a tower in Christian Europe before this architectural detail of the Muslims. A stronger case could be made for how Islam plagiarized Judaism and Christianity in its scriptures. She has one historic figure (Christopher Wren) who she uses to hold up almost her entire point of how Gothic architecture was basically invented by Muslims with her main point being the twin towers used in church construction in Europe after the Muslim conquests in Spain.
Almost without exception, every culture has borrowed from every culture that came before theirs, but somehow the West “stole� from the Muslims.
She keeps telling readers that we’ve forgotten about the eastern influence on Europe. Who is she referring to? Most people she is talking about don’t know anything about anything, so what’s her point? The forgotten history of the Moors, except it isn’t, not by anyone who’s read a history book. The author acts as if everyone living in Europe is completely ignorant of the Moorish culture and to back up her claim, she ambushes some idiot parish clergyman. How many residents of Istanbul know that their city was one of the centers of Christianity for over a millennia before it was attacked with its citizens killed and enslaved? As long as we’re dragging up the past, let’s drag it up on both sides.
"It can’t be proven but it’s likely that�" God, I wish she would stop writing that, but she does it again and again. I really hate writers who want so desperately for their point to come out that they simply lose every bit of objectivity in their research and find examples of their premise where none exist.
France most certainly isn’t undergoing a “spiritual renaissance� after the fire in Notre Dame. The French were stunned simply because the cathedral is such an iconic part of the Paris skyline and has been for 700 years. She also mentions the terrorist attacks in Paris carried out by Muslim extremists as pushing the French towards religion. Simply not true and she gives not even a shred of evidence to back up this claim.
In response to these upheavals and the perceived threat of Islam, many sought to revive a Christian national identity. France, that most secular of countries where even wearing a crucifix to work is not allowed, is having a religious renaissance, a spiritual awakening.
How many is “many� in this statement? Five people? Ten? This “religious renaissance� is just patently not fucking true.
She claims that the mosque minarets led directly to Christian bell towers which is simply absurd, as if no one had ever considered making a tower in Christian Europe before this architectural detail of the Muslims. A stronger case could be made for how Islam plagiarized Judaism and Christianity in its scriptures. She has one historic figure (Christopher Wren) who she uses to hold up almost her entire point of how Gothic architecture was basically invented by Muslims with her main point being the twin towers used in church construction in Europe after the Muslim conquests in Spain.
Almost without exception, every culture has borrowed from every culture that came before theirs, but somehow the West “stole� from the Muslims.
January 30, 2021
" السرقة من العرب " كما عنونت الكاتبة والباحثة كتابها
كتاب غزير جداً قرأته بتأني على مدى شهرين
تستعرض فيه الكاتبة جوانب عده في العمارة، وكيف ساهمت كل حضارة بإلهام حضارة أخرى بين الشرق والغرب
.
تقول الكاتبه أنه هدفها من الكتاب توضيح فكرة أنه لا أحد يملك العمارة، مثلما لا يملك أحد العلم
كل حضارة تبنى وتستلهم من الأخرى وكل شيء مرتبط ببعضه
.
اعجبني تعمق الكاتبه ومصداقيتها في ذكر القضايا المتعلقه بالمشرق العربي والغرب
انصح به لكل المهتمين بالعمارة والتاريخ
This book shall not be judged only from its title, you should dive deep into it and sense the opinions that the author shared in tolerance, the author purpose was clear when she mentioned that her aim was to show that no one owns architecture, just as no one owns science.
I enjoyed reading this book, it enriched me from different perspectives.
كتاب غزير جداً قرأته بتأني على مدى شهرين
تستعرض فيه الكاتبة جوانب عده في العمارة، وكيف ساهمت كل حضارة بإلهام حضارة أخرى بين الشرق والغرب
.
تقول الكاتبه أنه هدفها من الكتاب توضيح فكرة أنه لا أحد يملك العمارة، مثلما لا يملك أحد العلم
كل حضارة تبنى وتستلهم من الأخرى وكل شيء مرتبط ببعضه
.
اعجبني تعمق الكاتبه ومصداقيتها في ذكر القضايا المتعلقه بالمشرق العربي والغرب
انصح به لكل المهتمين بالعمارة والتاريخ
This book shall not be judged only from its title, you should dive deep into it and sense the opinions that the author shared in tolerance, the author purpose was clear when she mentioned that her aim was to show that no one owns architecture, just as no one owns science.
I enjoyed reading this book, it enriched me from different perspectives.
December 29, 2020
Excellent and fascinating.
Despite what some reviewers have commented, the author is quite clear what is of Islamic origin or influence, and not taken for granted that any Middle Eastern is Islamic. Possibly a little too much focus on Syria, but given that Syria is clearly the country she knows best, that’s inevitable. A little more on the Islamic elements of Samarkand or other Central Asian architecture and Persian art might have broadened the book.
Despite what some reviewers have commented, the author is quite clear what is of Islamic origin or influence, and not taken for granted that any Middle Eastern is Islamic. Possibly a little too much focus on Syria, but given that Syria is clearly the country she knows best, that’s inevitable. A little more on the Islamic elements of Samarkand or other Central Asian architecture and Persian art might have broadened the book.
December 4, 2020
Calling stolen Byzantine churches “Islamic� architecture is really the epitome of irony. As a Middle Eastern Christian, I don’t understand why everything from our part of the world whether pre-Islamic, or post is labeled as Islamic. It’s the equivalent of me calling everything from penicillin, to the innovations of the Greeks/Romans, to Einstein’s theories “Christian.� It’s dishonest and irresponsible.
January 6, 2023
In , maintains that the structural elements and style of many European gothic buildings borrowed heavily from the Arab world, especially from Islamic architecture.
Darke learned Arabic, immersed herself in the literature and culture of the Arab world, traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Turkey, and spent several years in pre-civil war Damascus. She visited many of the archaeological ruins and religious sites she describes in her book. She makes a compelling case that structural elements and construction techniques in architecture, including pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, cross vaults, spires, stained glass, rose windows, domes, horseshoe arches, spires, window grilles, etc. had their roots in the Arab and Islamic world.
Through meticulous research, Darke demonstrates that from the early Middle Ages, various travelers to the Middle East and Spain studied Islamic buildings and mosques, taking extensive drawings and notes on the structures. From the crusaders and pilgrims visiting Jerusalem; the thriving trade routes, especially between Venice and Arab countries; military conflicts; and visitors to Muslim-ruled Spain, the opportunities for interaction and influence were many. The methods, computations for construction, styles, and techniques of Arab and Islamic architecture were transmitted to Europe where the structures were imitated. Europeans also studied the translated writings of Arab scholars in science and geometry to learn their techniques. These borrowings appear in prominent European buildings, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Venice’s St. Mark’s, and Notre Dame.
That Europe gained considerable knowledge of medicine, philosophy, science, mathematics, astronomy, including the words Algebra (from the Arabic word al-jabr, meaning to connect; to bring back together) and Algorithm (from Al-Khwarizmi, the scholar working in Baghdad during the late 8th century CE) is well-documented. It should come as no surprise that Europe also borrowed heavily from Islamic architecture. But as Darke argues in her conclusion, the point is not to claim the superiority of Arab architecture over its European counterpart. It is simply to acknowledge the heavy influence the Arabs and Islam have had on the architecture of Europe.
Darke’s research is extensive. The language describing the intricate parts of a building and the details of its construction may be too technical for those not well-versed in architecture. Fortunately, Darke provides an invaluable chapter at the end of her book in which she itemizes the first appearance of a key architectural feature of Arab/Islamic origin and highlights its appearance in European buildings. She also includes a glossary, index, and some breathtaking illustrations of ancient sites, mosques, cathedrals, and other prominent structures in the Middle East, Turkey, and Europe.
My book reviews are also available at
Darke learned Arabic, immersed herself in the literature and culture of the Arab world, traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Turkey, and spent several years in pre-civil war Damascus. She visited many of the archaeological ruins and religious sites she describes in her book. She makes a compelling case that structural elements and construction techniques in architecture, including pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, cross vaults, spires, stained glass, rose windows, domes, horseshoe arches, spires, window grilles, etc. had their roots in the Arab and Islamic world.
Through meticulous research, Darke demonstrates that from the early Middle Ages, various travelers to the Middle East and Spain studied Islamic buildings and mosques, taking extensive drawings and notes on the structures. From the crusaders and pilgrims visiting Jerusalem; the thriving trade routes, especially between Venice and Arab countries; military conflicts; and visitors to Muslim-ruled Spain, the opportunities for interaction and influence were many. The methods, computations for construction, styles, and techniques of Arab and Islamic architecture were transmitted to Europe where the structures were imitated. Europeans also studied the translated writings of Arab scholars in science and geometry to learn their techniques. These borrowings appear in prominent European buildings, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Venice’s St. Mark’s, and Notre Dame.
That Europe gained considerable knowledge of medicine, philosophy, science, mathematics, astronomy, including the words Algebra (from the Arabic word al-jabr, meaning to connect; to bring back together) and Algorithm (from Al-Khwarizmi, the scholar working in Baghdad during the late 8th century CE) is well-documented. It should come as no surprise that Europe also borrowed heavily from Islamic architecture. But as Darke argues in her conclusion, the point is not to claim the superiority of Arab architecture over its European counterpart. It is simply to acknowledge the heavy influence the Arabs and Islam have had on the architecture of Europe.
Darke’s research is extensive. The language describing the intricate parts of a building and the details of its construction may be too technical for those not well-versed in architecture. Fortunately, Darke provides an invaluable chapter at the end of her book in which she itemizes the first appearance of a key architectural feature of Arab/Islamic origin and highlights its appearance in European buildings. She also includes a glossary, index, and some breathtaking illustrations of ancient sites, mosques, cathedrals, and other prominent structures in the Middle East, Turkey, and Europe.
My book reviews are also available at
December 17, 2020
A beautiful book. Well written, deeply research & wonderfully presented. It restores Syria at the heart of world architecture - and lovingly points out Syrian influence throughout the Arab lands and in Europe. An important book and a great contribution to the study of Islamic and western architecture.
April 16, 2021
Interesting book about how many of the features now associated with western Gothic and classical cathedrals can first be seen in architecture from the Middle East, both in early Christian churches in Syria, and more especially in the mosques built in the Middle East and in southern Spain. Christopher Wren coined the phrase "Stealing from the Saracens" and the dome of St Paul's is constructed using a technique seen in much Islamic architecture. If you are interested in the history of architecture this is a very accessible read.
August 15, 2022
كتاب جميل لكنه مفصل بتفاصيل بعيدة عن اهتمامي
June 15, 2022
All world is coherent and the architecture shows it the best. We, who live in Europe, usually thinking, that European architectural styles emerged from nowhere. But this book shows that "no one "owns" architecture, just as no one "owns" science. <...> Everything builds on what went before." Sadly, the human memory is short. We forgot that Christianity bornt in the Middle East and long time it was influenced by Ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic cultures. Just look at the Dead Cities of Idlib province (Syria) and you will see a missing link to the Romanesque architecture of Europe. How XII-XIII c. impressive cathedrals and monasteries look like without pointed arches, belltowers, rosettes or castles without machicolations. All these details were invented by Islam or Arabs in general. The secular architecture of the Umayyad caliphs is even more important to the subsequent development of the European Gothic style, than we previous thought. That's why gothic architecture we must call "Saracen-style." Each caliphates left a trace in European (f.eg. Sicily, Spain, France, England or even Lithuania) architecture. People always migrated, Syrian communities were recorded in Spain and Gaul as late as 589. Moreover, even Paris had a Syrian bishop in V c. So, natural, with these people, craftsmen, knights or clergy, the different ideas moving from the East to the West and the opposite.
After this book, I will look at church facades different. It extended my view to architectural history and help to understand how the East and the West are united. So, if we won't accept the East, we won't able to understand our own identity. I highly recommend this book, because it reveals many exciting secrets.
After this book, I will look at church facades different. It extended my view to architectural history and help to understand how the East and the West are united. So, if we won't accept the East, we won't able to understand our own identity. I highly recommend this book, because it reveals many exciting secrets.
October 7, 2021
Thoroughly researched and accessible.
December 14, 2022
Literally like a verbal/virtual journey following the footsteps of Muslim architecture. Some might be bothered with the title, but for me the main point is not who 'stole' from who, it is the journey itself. The books also has lots of images showing examples of the mentioned buildings as well as different types of styles shown on those images with captions. A big plus for those who feels something is incomplete without seeing the maps and/or images relevant to the topic. More maps can be added for the future issues.
January 25, 2021
Voor de liefhebbers dit boek. Een interessante verhandeling over de ontwikkeling van de Europese architectuur uit de Islamitische, en die dan weer uit de Byzantijnse en pre-islamitische. Klinkt ingewikkeld, maar de schrijfster weet het goed te vertellen. Veel wetenswaardig, mooie foto's.
De meeste architectuur in dit boek betreft uiteraard kerken en moskeeen. Duidelijk wordt ook hoeveel we in de laatste oorlogen hebben verwoest. Zelfs de brand in de Notre Dame komt aan bod.
De meeste architectuur in dit boek betreft uiteraard kerken en moskeeen. Duidelijk wordt ook hoeveel we in de laatste oorlogen hebben verwoest. Zelfs de brand in de Notre Dame komt aan bod.
August 22, 2021
Although some might dispute the Arabic influence in Gothic and other architecture in Europe, the author makes a compelling case. I learned quite a bit about how this came to be and it fits right in with the influences in the cuisines of especially France and Italy that I have come to know. I was saddened by the architectural treasures lost in the Syrian civil war recently.
August 2, 2023
The title is slightly misleading, as Darke talks about architectural borrowings from early Christian and Byzantine as well as Islamic architecture. That quibble aside, this is a really enjoyable and insightful look at some of my favorite European and Middle Eastern buildings.
January 9, 2022
5⭐️
If anyone had the architectural education that consisted of the following pipeline:
Pyramids of Giza -> The Pantheon -> Gothic Style
Then you need this book.
A more in depth review coming soon.
If anyone had the architectural education that consisted of the following pipeline:
Pyramids of Giza -> The Pantheon -> Gothic Style
Then you need this book.
A more in depth review coming soon.
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May 31, 2023قرأت ربعه الكترونيًا ولم استطع احتماله، أظنني أحتاج لقراءته ورقيًا لأستطيع التركيز أكثر.
November 2, 2024
وكأنها رحلة سياحية في عمق التاريخ
...............................................
تتمة مراجعة الكتاب على مدونتي:
((( همى الغيث )))
...............................................
تتمة مراجعة الكتاب على مدونتي:
((( همى الغيث )))
April 23, 2025
There wasn't much to this book I didn't already know as an architectural historian, but it's a great overview of the sources of Islamic and much of European architecture. Darke's thesis is well grounded.
April 26, 2025
Great book! I learned so much and recommended it to others! I will certainly enjoy and appreciate architecture more now
November 20, 2024
كتاب محزن بالنسبة ليا ك عربي مسلم.
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