Trifter

Travel to the south of Spain and enter the land of Andalucia.  This is romantic Spain, the land of Castenets, flamenco, Carmen, bullfights and guitars.  Move inland from the coastal resort of Malaga and experience the hinterland.  Here are three great cities – Seville, Grenada, and Cordoba. 

One thousand years ago, Cordoba was the largest city in Europe and perhaps the world.  This was an immense city, chroniclers talk about a population close to 500,000 at a time when the population of London was less than 20,000 people.  Today, the population of Cordoba is closer to 325,000.  

In Cordoba you find the essence of Spain.  Three festivals bring tourists to the town in May.   The heat is intense and the atmosphere crowded.  Cordoba sees some of the hottest weather in Spain. Out of season in the backstreets Cordoba reveals its true character.  Here is a warren of medieval walkways, patios and geraniums, whitewashed buildings and blue glazed tiles.  Cavernous bars hide behind concealed entrances Entire families from infant girls to grandad sit at low tables while the music skits between modern pop to flamenco. Whole families dances to the flamenco. 

Cordoba lines the banks of the Guadalquivir.  This town was founded by the Phoenecians at the highest navigable point on the river.  In 152 BC the Romans took the city and developed an important inland port. Julisu Caesar sacked the city in his war with Pompey. Some 23,000 people were massacred. Claudius Marcellus rebuilt the town and repopulated it with poor patricians from Rome.

Source: Wikipedia

A Roman bridge still spans the Guadalquivir.

In the sixth century the city was captured by the Visigoths. It enjoyed a short period as a Christian town.  In 711 it fell to Muslim forces and became the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate. The Caliphate was founded by a Syrian prince in exile.

Source: Wikipedia

On the Rio Guadalquivir, just downstream from the Roman Bridge there is a restored Islamic water wheel that once raised water for the caliph’s palace.

Source: Wikipeda

The most famous building in Cordoba is the Mezquita, or Grand Mosque.  This building can be clearly seen form the Roman bridge and dominates the southern town.  The Muslins are believed to have bought the church that the Visigoths had erected on the site. Work on a grand mosque began in AD 784 and took over two hundred years to complete.

Source: Wikipedia

The mosque is noted for its vast array of columns and pillars. These extend in all directions as far as the eye can see.

A forest of arches: a labarynth of pillars. Source: Wikipedia

The mosque is unusual because it is orientated north/south rather than in the traditional way, towards Mecca.  The first Caliph might have been so homesick that he decided to orient the mosque as though he was still in Damascus. 

In 1236, Córdoba was recaptured by the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castile. Although the mosque was reconsecrated as a Christian church, radical change came in the reign of Charles V.  Charles V decided to   building a Renaissance cathedral nave in the middle of the structure.  This somewhat spoils the structure.  The entire mosque area is used as part of the current cathedral.

Cordoba and La Mezquita should be on your list of places to visit during a lifetime.