ISLAMESQUE: HOW ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE SHAPED EUROPE- AN ILLUSTRATED TALK BY DIANA DARKE. CHAIRED BY SAVILIAN PHILIP WRIGHT.

Europe’s greatest medieval monuments stand as testimony to the engineering and construction genius of their time. But who built them?

At a time when Christendom lacked such expertise, Muslim craftsmen had advanced understanding of geometry and complex ornamentation. They dominated high-end construction in Islamic Spain, Sicily and North Africa, spreading knowledge and techniques across Western Europe. This groundbreaking book explores the evidence embedded in medieval monasteries, churches and castles, from Mont Saint-Michel and the Leaning Tower of Pisa to Durham Cathedral and the Basilica of Santiago de Compostela. Tracing the origins of key design innovations from this pre-Gothic period—acknowledged as the essential foundation of all future European construction styles—Diana Darke sheds startling new light on the masons, carpenters and sculptors behind these masterpieces.

‘Magnificently lively, detailed and bold, a real revolution in how we think about the development of medieval art and architecture. It also does a fine and timely job of unsettling all kinds of assumptions about mutually impenetrable and isolated civilisations.’ — Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

‘Once again, Diana Darke forces us to open our eyes and see the wealth of outside influences on Europe’s architecture. With an often-startling originality she brings to life the charm and elegance that Islam brought to soften the northern vigour of Romanesque and Gothic.’ – Simon Jenkins, Guardian columnist, and author of Cathedrals: Masterpieces of Architecture, Feats of Engineering, Icons of Faith

‘A thrilling detective story that begins with a zigzag and ends with a radical reappraisal of our religious past. Whenever you visit a church or cathedral, take this book; you will learn a new way to read religious buildings, and a new way to think about Islam’s place in Europe.’ – Edward Stourton, BBC Radio 4

‘In this truly beautiful book, Diana Darke masterfully explores and unveils the much-ignored Islamic contribution to European architectural heritage. It is fascinating, enlightening and also educating to all those who see only stark gaps between civilisations.’ – Mustafa Akyol, Senior Fellow on Islam and Modernity, Cato Institute, and author of Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance

‘Learned but lively, Islamesque invites us to look again at medieval European architecture, demonstrating beyond doubt that the spirit, techniques and crafts of Islam inspired many of its most glorious expressions.’ – Tim Winter, Lecturer in Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge

‘A guide to some of the most remarkable buildings in Europe, Islamesque persuasively argues that the innovative techniques and motifs of Romanesque architecture can only be explained by wealthy Christian patrons employing architects and craftsmen from formerly Muslim Spain and Sicily.’ – Julia Bray, Emerita Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain Laudian Professor of Arabic, University of Oxford

‘It’s rare to read a historical account of architecture where bias is eliminated and prejudice overcome. Diana Darke does just that, writing out of love and respect for places and peoples. In times of severe division, she dedicatedly turns the compass towards the true essence of civilisations: human cooperation.’ – Marwa Al-Sabouni, architect, public speaker and author of Building for Hope and The Battle for Home.

Diana Darke is a Middle East cultural historian with special focus on Syria.  She holds degrees in Arabic from Oxford University, and in Islamic Art & Architecture from SOAS, London, and has spent over 40 years specialising in the region, working for both government and commercial sectors. Among her publications are the highly acclaimed My House in Damascus : An Inside View of the Syrian Crisis, The Merchant of Syria and The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy . Her book Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture shaped Europe (published by Hurst in 2020), received three Book of the Year 2020 awards. Its sister volume, Islamesque , has been selected by Daunts as a History and Current Affairs Book of the Year 2024.She is a Non-resident Scholar at Washington DC’s Middle East Institute, a respected Middle East think-tank.