Jill & Al in Europe: Cordoba

We took a bus to go the 160km from Granada to Cordoba and once again with front row seats we had a great view. We soon left the city behind and for the next 140km had little but olive groves on both sides of the road, the trees extended quite a distance up the hills. About 20km from Cordoba the scenery suddenly changed to fields of grain and sunflowers and only the occasional olive grove here and there. With so many olives being grown it's not surprising that olives are offered free with most drinks or meals in this part of Spain.

Olives as far as the eye can see

Cordoba was hot but in spite of the 36C heat we went exploring. As with everywhere we have been in Spain it seems that around every second corner there a church or religious building. For many of the buildings much their grandeur has been lost as the nearby more modern buildings crowd them out.

As we walk the streets I tend wonder what is behind the high walls. Now and again a door is open and you get a peek what lies behind.

What you see on the street

Behind the door

Behind another door

Cordoba’s streets were lined with orange trees and in a park we were able to shake down some fruit, what a disappointment. The fruit was very juicy but it tasted horrible, sour and acidic. We wonder if the fruit of all the orange trees we have seen on the streets taste like this.

Cordoba has ruins from Roman times, crossing the river there is a Roman bridge and the remains of a temple was at the bottom of our street.

This city had a turbulent past and it's old part used to be fortified.

Old city gate

And wall

In the old Jewish quarter we visited a synagogue that was built in 1315. The Jewish Quarter of Cordoba at this time was an independent city within the walls of Cordoba, even to the extent of being walled off. The Jews were expelled in 1492 and the synagogue was put to other uses but fortunately many of the original decorations and inscriptions have survived.

Womens gallery at the snagogue

As with some other cities we have visited there is an Alcazar (fortified palace). In 1236 Christian forces took Cordoba and in 1328 Alfonso XI of Castile began building the present day Alcazar on the site of an old Moorish fort. Christian monarchs used the building as a royal residence then later it became the site of the Courts of the Holy Offices, a civil prison, and finally a military prison.

Some Alcazar history - The Alcazar was used as a headquarters for the campaign against the Nasrid dynasty in Granada, the last remaining Moorish kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. The Moors were defeated in 1492.

The Inquisition began using the Alcázar as one of its headquarters in 1482, converting much of it, including the Arab baths, into torture and interrogation chambers.

In 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand met Christopher Columbus in the Alcázar as he prepared to take his first voyage to the Americas. The Alcázar served as a garrison for Napoleon Bonaparte's troops in 1810. In 1821, the Alcázar became a prison.

Our visit took us to two of the towers, the courtyards and the Arab baths.

On the way to the tower

The women's courtyard, so called because a women's prison used to be there, has orange trees, a pool and fountains.

At the Arab baths

Originally water was brought in by an aqueduct from the Sierra Morena and the great Albolafia waterwheel in the River Guadalquivir nearby helped with the supply.

The main attraction in Cordoba is the mosque-cathedral the ‘ Mezquita ‘. Here Islamic art and Christian art meet. Words can't explain this building, magnificent doesn't convey the feeling of awe when you stand inside.

The Mezquita

The site was used in the 6th century for a Visigoth Basilica and with the arrival of the Muslims the premises were divided and its use became shared.

As the population grew in 786-788 a Mosque was built, it's construction having two lines of superimposing arches atop pillars to hold up the roof. In 833-848 extensions were made with the same design of columns and arches. In 951 a minaret was added and further arched extensions were made in 962-966 and 991.

The Mezquita, including the orange courtyard now stretches across 24,000 square meters and features 856 columns made of marble, granite, jasper, and other fine materials. Across these columns are the double red and white coloured arches which form 39 naves.

After Cordoba was recaptured by King Ferdinand III in 1236 and the mosque began its life as a church. In 1523, in the very centre of the Mezquita, the construction of a cathedral began. The construction lasted until the beginning of the 17th century and destroyed parts of the column hall.

The holy cathedral inside the mosque features all styles of the 16th and 17th centuries: Spanish-Flemish vaults, Renaissance domes, and baroque altar vaults.