Cordoba is where Rosie and The Operator are headed today. This sun drenched city of 300,000 is the tenth largest city in Spain and sits on the banks of the Guadalquivir River and just basks in the Andalusian sunshine…for most of the year. Today, on the very day when Rosie and The Operator visit it is forecast for unexpected rain later in the day.
Cordoba has an old town of two halves, one is a rabbit warren of skinny, whitewashed, shady alleyways dripping with flowers from balconies and potted plants clinging to the walls.
The other side of Cordoba is a town of large beige stone monuments that hover over and dominate the orange tiled rooftops. You can feel the warmth radiating off the stone and feel the hum of history when you touch these ancient blocks.
When you look around, absorbing and truly seeing your surroundings… you know you are a place that is pretty special. Lets have a look around.
Puente Romano is the oldest bridge in town that has spanned the Guadalquivir River here for over two thousand years ever since the Roman’s first colonised here. This river is 657 kms long and runs the length of Andalusia, we have come across it many times already and will cross it a few more times yet on our journey.
This beautiful 26 arched bridge has been rebuilt over time but still looks exactly the same. It was part of the 1200km main Roman road linking Girona in Catalonia to Cadiz, from one side of Spain to the other.
This bridge also featured as the Long Bridge Of Voltanis In GOT….with abit of added CGI.
Across the bridge and through the Roman Gates you are in the heart of old town Cordoba. There is always a carriage or two waiting to ferry you around.
The building of The Mezquita dominates the center of town. This large, dominating, foreboding kind of fortress like building with no windows is heralded as one of the greatest works of Islamic architecture and is a grand Mosque…with a difference.
This Grand Mosque was built in 784 by the Islamic rulers of Cordoba. Its exterior has 19 large brass doors, with decorative Arabic style tiling surrounding them, all spaced at regular intervals around the exterior of the building. These would have been open back in the day letting in a flood of light…..now they are permanently closed……making the interior a bit mystic, dim and moody.
When you enter you are in the hall of The Mezquita Arches. The main prayer hall of the mosque. This is the room with the most defining characteristics of this building which are the terracotta and white striped arches supported by 1293 salvaged Roman pillars (non of which are the same, Rosie might add) of which 856 remain today.
As the men prayed side by side in the mosque the arches were supposed to represent a forest of date palms. The arcades simplicity and the repetitious arches gives a feeling of infinity and openness. You feel the hall has no ending and you cant actually see the other end of the mosque in the gloom. Walking through the eerie forest, you come to the heart of the Mosque.
The Mihrab (bottom photo) is the beautiful prayer niche set in the wall facing Mecca. This is from the 10th Century and even in the low light light it just seems to gleam with power and other world luminosity. This is the Royal enclosure where the Caliphes and their entourage came to pray.
Above their heads is the most beautiful ceiling! The lavish and elaborate arches were made to draw the eyes of worshipers towards the Mirab and Mecca. It is so stunningly beautiful, you just cannot take your eyes off it. The three photos below start with the ceiling at the top and travel down to the Mihrab at the bottom.
And just another of that ceiling…just because it is so beautiful and breath taking.
Then you have to remember that although this was a Mosque for over 500 years…in 1248 Cordoba and the south were conquered by the Spanish. So, in the middle of the worlds third largest Mosque, the conquering Catholics built……a cathedral….yep…and a big one.
During the centuries the Christian element in this building got bigger and bigger…the cathedral today has been re modeled and is from the 16th Century. See the vaulted Catholic Church ceiling amongst the original arches of the Mosque.
It is an incredible building with an even more incredible history, the guide books say both religions lived in harmony and worshiped side by side. Rosie finds that very hard to believe, that’s never how it worked….or maybe they were more mature and peaceful back in the day.
An orangery sits in the courtyard of The Mezquita, the fountain that is still in the middle was where the Mosques holy ablutions were carried out.
The 54 metre tower bell tower also sits in the orangeries courtyard. This was built around the ancient minaret and looks like the one in Seville. Seville is the copycat and not Cordoba. The Mezquita sure is a remarkable place!
The Alcázar de Los Reyes Christianos is a combination of fort and palace built in the 14th Century and was home to Catholic Monarchs Fernando and Isobel. It was here they made their acquaintance with Columbus 1486. The Palace itself is small and compact with great views from the towers looking towards the Roman bridge and out over the the beautiful gardens.
The orange trees in the gardens are beautiful and lush, their vibrancy even more accentuated by the rain that is lightly falling as we wander around the large gardens taking in the symmetrical beauty.
No maps are needed in this town, it is a pleasure to wander around and pause now and then in the buzz of a small square that you suddenly find yourself in. Just like that the rain has stopped, the sky is blue once again and the thirsty earth satiated. We stow the umbrella and raincoats, put on a T Shirt and off we go again.
The reason why the streets of Cordoba are so narrow is to keep them nice and shady and stop the harsh sun coming into your house. This town has the 6th highest ever recorded temperature in Spain…46.6c.
Not only is Cordoba renowned for its sunshine hours but it is also famous for its summer flower festivals where the houses throw open their street doors and reveal their otherwise hidden courtyards full of flowers to the public. It is supposed to be an amazing spectacle for a couple of weeks of the year.
These whitewashed buildings with wrought iron clad windows and flower strewn balconies are in the heart of the Jewish Quarter and the oldest part of Cordoba. Spain had one of Europe’s biggest Jewish communities recorded from as early as the 2nd Century.
The Jews were persecuted by the nomadic Germanic tribes so they aligned themselves with the Muslims after the Arab conquests here in Spain. They soon become prominent members of the communities they lived in holding high ranking positions in the town.
Then the Christian Spanish came, conquering the towns of the south and forcing the Jews to flee during the Spanish Inquisition or face the pyres. Rosie never knew this part of Jewish history, the Jews sure have had a hard time during the course of history…
It was great just wandering around stopping for a Pequena Cerveza (small beer, with customary free tapa) here and there at every nice square we encountered.
The Plaza de la Corredera is just out of the old town. It is a huge 17th Century Square which has seen its share of bullfights, Inquisition burning’s and all manner of public display. Today it is still ringed with apartments and a local food market is still there every morning like it has been throughout the ages.
The bottom arches are lined with cafes and restaurants which the locals frequent…for a vino, and a game of dominos….this slow, relaxed way of life, seems to sum up the city perfectly.
Rosie and The Operator have very much enjoyed the slower pace of this city for the last couple of days. Tomorrow we are off again, to visit Granada and the second most visited sight in Spain, The Alhambra…its all going on in Andalusia!
