Cordoba is situated in the interior of Andalusia where past and modernity blend in together. This thousand-year-old city, which has the World Heritage designation, is a living legacy of the different cultures that settled here throughout its history.
Not many places in the world can say they have been the capital of Hispania Ulterior (Further Spain) under the Roman Empire, and capital of the Umayyad Caliphate. This splendour can also be seen because of the intellectualism of this city of knowledge, where figures like Seneca, Averroes or Maimonides were born.
If you walk round the old quarter you will discover a beautiful network of alleyways, squares and white-washed courtyards surrounding the Great Mosque-Cathedral, which reflects the importance of the city in the Middle Ages, and is the symbol of the city.
With the imprint of the old splendour of the Caliphate of Cordoba
The historic quarter in Cordoba, declared a World Heritage Site, still has the imprint of the old splendour of the Caliphate of Cordoba, which turned this city into one of the most cultivated and refined in medieval Europe.
In the 10th century, under Abderraman III, the Medina (town) had 1,000 mosques, 800 Arab baths, and an advanced street lighting system. The urban layout was almost as impressive as Constantinople, Damascus and Baghdad.
And the Great Mosque dominates the view. It became rapidly famous because of the brilliant way in which it was built and because of its rich details. The "forest of columns" (there are about a thousand), built on a Visigoth basilica, is one of the most attractive parts of the building. The first mosque has a quadrangular floor plan with nineteen naves, divided by double arches, combining horseshoe arches with semicircular arches. The decorative elements include brick alternated with stone, red and white, as well as sculpted marble, stuccowork, mosaics and plasterwork.
The Cathedral and the Mosque are a single architectural space because after the Reconquest the idea was to build a Gothic cathedral inside the Mosque. Over the years Plateresque and Baroque elements were also included. Barrel vaults and Baroque ornamentation blend in with geometrical motifs and verses from the Koran.
The Jewish Quarter also dates from that period. It spreads out from the Mosque to the walls and the Almodóvar Gate. It is made up of network of narrow streets with white-washed façades adorned with tiles and grilles. In this district you will find the Plazuela de las Flores, the house of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia, and the Synagogue, the only one that remains in the city. |