A massive fire has broken out at the iconic Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba in Spain, but firefighters got the blaze under control in around an hour.

The historic building in Southern Spain serves as a cathedral and was originally built as a mosque between the 8th and 10th centuries by Muslim ruler Abd ar-Rahman, before being converted into a cathedral in the 13th century.

A fire broke out in the historic mosque-turned-cathedral in Cordoba on Friday but the monument was saved as firefighters quickly contained and then extinguished it, the Spanish city's mayor said.