So one of the towns that I wanted to visit before I left Spain was Cordoba. I had learned a bit about Cordoba over the years and I was excited to visit...My friends, the Meyer´s, and I headed north towards Cordoba. Here is some of the beautiful countryside along the way...we´ve had ton o´rain and snow in Spain, so I am wondering if this green had more to do with that...it all looked more like England or Ireland than the dry ´La Mancha´Spain I was expecting...
And there you have it! There is Cordoba! Córdoba (also Cordova) is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. It was founded along Guadalquivir river in Roman times as Corduba by Claudius Marcellus. Its population in 2008 was 325,453. Today a moderately-sized modern city, the old town contains many impressive architectural reminders of when Qurṭuba, the thriving capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba, governed almost all of the Iberian peninsula. It has been estimated that in the latter half of the tenth century Córdoba, with up to 500,000 inhabitants, was then the most populated city in Europe and, perhaps, in the world.
I just think the orange trees that line the streets are so pretty...but beware the oranges are SOUR!
These are the walls of the old city mosque (it was the largest of 1,000 mosques back in Cordoba´s heyday) that now is the city´s cathedral popularly known as La Mezquita.
Tower dedicated to....I don´t know! :)
The western wall of the cathedral-mosque complex with the bell tower in the background....LOVE EET!
These are the inner Árab´arches of the now cathedral that make it world famous! The building was begun in approximately 600AD as the Christian Visigothic church of St. Vincent. Emir Abd ar-Rahman I bought the church, and he and his descendants reworked it over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque, starting in 784 AD. In 1236, Córdoba was recaptured from the Muslim army by King Ferdinand III of Castile and the mosque was converted into a Christian church.
The roof of a chapel in the cathedral...
Starting in 746 the Abassid family and its followers attacked and finally conquered the ruling Umayyad Caliphate (a Muslim realm stretching from Spain to Persia). Most of the Umayyad were killed, but one eventually established the separate Caliphate of Cordoba. The reason I am including all of this is that this is the Mihrab of the old mosque. Normally this always faces towards Mecca, indicating the direction for Muslims to pray, however what makes this Mirhab so special is that it is facing south...towards Africa...some say that the last of the of the Umayyad´s did this out of nostaligia for his family´s center of power, Damascus. If he were still in Syria, Mecca would have been southwards...(that all makes me sad...)
The roof above the mihrab...it´s all so beautiful...I love Muslim árt´and design...
More of the famous arches of La Mezquita...
I just thought this picture was so interesting....the Muslim arch with the Christian altar behind it. (Before anyone gets angry, just remember this place was first a Christian church before it became a mosque, before it became a cathedral...and more than likely it was a Roman temple or something before all of that! :)
Beautiful!
They were having Mass at the time, so we couldn´t go into the Choir stalls, but here is the truly ´Christan part of the cathedral...
Purdy ceiling....
I loved the stained-glass of Jesus...very nice...
The mix of the architectures and cultures...amazing!
Pretty much because Spain had just celebrated Epiphany, here is the chapel of the Three Kings...
The other side of the main altar....
Love the ceiling, etc...
Purdy...
They still had some ´Nativity´scenes out...here is Jesus´ birth...
Escape into Egypt...
This is a good reason why Church and State should be separate. In Spain the Church pretty much was the State in many ways and I think this led to a great anger in many parts of Spanish society. With the arrival of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931 many anarchists, etc., felt émpowered´to do what they wanted leading to the death and torture of many Catholic priests and nuns. The following tables show the names of those who lost their lives in the ´religious persecution´during the Republic.
Sad, sad, sad...but true...and events like these led to the Franco-backlash, Civil War and decades of fascist dictatorship in Spain....
I think the differences in style, again, are amazing...
I took a picture of the column cuz I hadn´t seen these stones anywhere else in the cathedral and I wonder where they came from...
Here is the outside courtyard with orange trees and the bell tower....
The Meyer´s got us there just in time! Before 10am, people can get in for free, after 10am it costs 8 Euros! YAY for free!
Another view of the courtyard...amazing stuff...and I know that comment amazing is getting old, but...when you study or hear about this stuff for years and then you FINALLY get to see it for YOURSELF! AMAZING is about all you can say! :)
Close up of the doors to la Mezquita....love eet!
This is the Éastern´wall....
Old City street....
This is the Tower of Calahorra. It was built in the 1100´s to protect the southern point of the Roman Bridge....
YES! You heard that right, the Roman bridge! Built in the first century, it´s gone through NUMEROUS reconstructions (apparently only two of those arches over the river are original)...but still, a Roman bridge, a Muslim tower, and then off in the distance you can see la Mezquita....
As said, we´ve had MASSIVE rainfall here in Spain and SNOW, SNOW, SNOW in higher elevations. This means that the rivers are OVERFLOWING and here´s evidence of it. In the end, I am sad that people have lost their lives and had great difficulties due to the extreme weather, but one of the GREAT things is that Spain is getting the water it SO BADLY NEEDS! EVERY year it seems like Spain is ablaze cuz of forest fires, but this year....maybe Spain won´t have to go through that....
La Mezquita across the Roman bridge....
There is the Archangel Raphael to protect us along the way....
at the end of the Roman bridge we find la Puerta de la Puente (the door of the bridge), but it was built in the 1600´s (I thought differently because of how it looks)...
Here is a look at what lies across from our next place of visitation and jubilitation....
Alcazar de los Reyes (Fortress of the Kings). While the Alcázar displays Islamic features, almost all of the structure was built under Christian rule. Originally the Visigoths had a fortress on the site. The Moors expanded the Alcázar to a very large compound with baths, gardens, and the largest library in the West. Watermills on the nearby Guadalquivir powered water lifting to irrigate the extensive gardens. These mills ran until Queen Isabella complained that they made too much noise and kept her awake. In 1236, Christian forces took Córdoba during the Reconquista. In 1386, Alfonso XI of Castile began building the present day structure on part of the site for the old fortress. Henry's successor, Isabella and her husband Ferdinand used the Alcázar for one of the first permanent tribunals of the Spanish Inquisition. 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.
Torture chambers?!!
But the orange trees in the park out front look so innocent and nice....
What should we do?
Oh well, let´s go inside for a better look anyway!
Here is a look from the palisades above....
A look down into the central garden....Muslims were just amazing at how they could transform desert into a garden if you ask me....
From one of the Alcazar towers you can look out and see la Mezquita with its Bell Tower in the background...
There is another view of the Roman bridge over the river Guadalqivir that goes on to Sevilla and then into the Mediterranean.
WOW! I saw this and was like ´THIS WAS SO WORTH IT!´
Beautiful....
Inside the Alcazar they have chosen to show Roman mosaics that they found in another part of the city. Why? I am not sure...they really should have left them in that area....you´ll see what I mean....
This one is from the 2nd century AD and they called it ´Medusa´, even though I find this Medusa cute and baby-faced (usually Medusa is supposed to be amazingly ugly and scary)....
NO IDEA what they are looking for, but I took this for my sister Caitlin who wants to be an archaeologist :)
Happy Digs!
In the basement (probably the torture chambers) are the Arab baths.
Looking pretty shabby now if you ask me....
AND dirty! LOL....
Again...the Muslims were amazing back in the day with culture, science, art, HYGIENE! especially when compared to the ´infidel´Christan Europeans :)
I still don´t understand what happened to ´make them fall´....in-fighting, excess?.....
View of the tower from the inner garden...
Complete with heralds and insignias of the Spanish reconquerors....
Bello, bello.....
This was the first lemon tree I saw in Spain and my friend, Gudrun, and I ended up eating one! Tremendously sour, but smoother than normal lemons....hmm....
Here is my Í am alive and well, Mom´pic! :)
Hope you get better, Mom! Keep on truckin´!
Beautiful gardens....
Looking towards the Alcazar....
I don´t know what kind of tree this is, but isn´t amazing how knotty it is?!
Who dey? Who dat?
Dat be Christopher Columbus and Isabella and Ferdinand working out the last details before Chris left on his first voyage! And where did this meeting take place ye ask? In the Alcazar here in Cordoba!
Good luck on your trip, Chris!
Leaving the gardens....loverly.....
Right next to the Alcazar are the Royal Stables. It is in these stables that the Ándalusian´horse type was created. I say that´s a big deal!
I am not sure, but I was told that these are the northern old city walls of Cordoba....I don´t know, but it could be because following them down a ways you have....
A big old tower and part of a wall, so maybe it´s true that these were the northern limits of the city, which of course today goes on MUCH, MUCH further than that....
Here we are at what I guess should be the old western walls of the city. These are the Meyer´s from Halle, Germany and they are my ´travel buddies´....
This is the old Jewish neighborhood in Cordoba. In Cordoba, Christians, Muslims and Jews all lived side by side....
Beautiful door!
And of course, the synagogue of Cordoba. The synagogue was built in 1312. After the expulsion of the Jews in 1492 by Isabella and Ferdinand, this synagogue remained the only one of three synagogues in Spain to have survived.
Over the years it had served as a hospital, chapel and nursery school, but someone found all of this ´work´behind the walls that were built over them and it was made into a national monument in 1885.
The Jews faced expulsion or assimilation through baptism into the Catholic church....some left, some stayed and then some of those who stayed fell victim to the Spanish Inquisition because of their secret practice of Judaism at home.....
This was outside on ´Street of the Jews´ looking up....I just thought it was beautiful and peaceful.
I was also grateful for the weather....while cold, it was sunny and clear. Before it had been raining and then two days later, it snowed in Cordoba. We literally had one of the two clear and sunny days to visit....
Maimonides was the preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. He was born in Cordoba, Spain, on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on 20th Tevet, December 13, 1204. He worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt. He had to leave Cordoba because of the intolerant Muslim rulers of the time and this affected his thinking a great deal, especially his ideas regarding respecting other people with different beliefs than your own.
We stopped in at an arts and crafts store and saw these. Spain is FAMOUS for the use and crafting of their fans....
I saw these and thought, Mom, you might like to see them....
Pretty no?
And then the famous and beautiful Spanish shawls...
The Bell Tower across the street again....
The entrance...beautiful!
And then above the entrance...interesting...the ´Christian´additions are fairly....tacky!
Here is an altar...that you can see in the next photo they literally just ádded´it onto the wall of the old mosque....
Nice pic, me likey.....
Old city street....
Passing by a door was open....that is one thing that kills me about Spanish, Latino houses that I guess they probably got from Muslim culture, but you don´t decorate and make the outside of your house nice (what is on the street), but rather you spend your time and money making the inner garden, fountain area nice and beautiful....
PARTY COMMUNIST OF ANDALUCIA!
Just up the street, I guess, was the Roman area. It was in this area that they found the mosaics that are in the Alcazar. These Roman columns have just been there all these years....amazing!
Apparently this is how the Roman temple looked back in the days of Roman ´Corduba´.
This is when we were done....we were making our way towards the car and came across this plaza with Christmas deco....
Along the way we found this Roman mausoleum. Seneca the Younger and Seneca the Elder (famous Roman dead dudes :) came from Cordoba!
And here is the old Roman road between Corduba and today´s Sevilla....
They have really pretty gardens in the center of town where we parked the car.
We got going along the highway...and again, HOW BEAUTIFUL!
Is that Ireland or Spain? I am not sure anymore!
That is probably part of the reason of the green, a storm heading our way! LOADS of rain and LOADS of snow = LOADS of water for a drought-stricken Spain!
Looking out you can see why Spain is the largest olive and olive oil exporter in the world!
I thought mountain was amazing...it was like a Mt. Sinai, set-apart from the others....around it were rolling, green hills and then in the back HIGH snow-covered mountains...and then there is this one, by itself, with the sun shining down on it....hmmm.....
Is that Norway? No, it´s Spain! As I said, we´ve had TONS of RAIN and TONS of SNOW in Spain! On the news all the old people are saying how this isn´t normal weather, etc....
Here is an altar...that you can see in the next photo they literally just ádded´it onto the wall of the old mosque....
Nice pic, me likey.....
Old city street....
Across from this wall, there was an art institute, and I guess this was one of their projects....I thought it was cool...
Passing by a door was open....that is one thing that kills me about Spanish, Latino houses that I guess they probably got from Muslim culture, but you don´t decorate and make the outside of your house nice (what is on the street), but rather you spend your time and money making the inner garden, fountain area nice and beautiful....
Isn´t this pretty?
PARTY COMMUNIST OF ANDALUCIA!
RISE UP! REVOLUTION!
It´s funny how with the financial crisis and problems suddenly bookstores are having trouble keeping Marx and Engels in store :)
Just up the street, I guess, was the Roman area. It was in this area that they found the mosaics that are in the Alcazar. These Roman columns have just been there all these years....amazing!
Apparently this is how the Roman temple looked back in the days of Roman ´Corduba´.
This is when we were done....we were making our way towards the car and came across this plaza with Christmas deco....
Along the way we found this Roman mausoleum. Seneca the Younger and Seneca the Elder (famous Roman dead dudes :) came from Cordoba!
And here is the old Roman road between Corduba and today´s Sevilla....
They have really pretty gardens in the center of town where we parked the car.
Thanks Cordoba! You were great and FULL of history and so many cultures....but, alas it´s time to go!
We got going along the highway...and again, HOW BEAUTIFUL!
What a pic of the countryside....granted, probably in June the green would be gone, but for now, it´s beautiful!
Is that Ireland or Spain? I am not sure anymore!
That is probably part of the reason of the green, a storm heading our way! LOADS of rain and LOADS of snow = LOADS of water for a drought-stricken Spain!
Looking out you can see why Spain is the largest olive and olive oil exporter in the world!
I thought mountain was amazing...it was like a Mt. Sinai, set-apart from the others....around it were rolling, green hills and then in the back HIGH snow-covered mountains...and then there is this one, by itself, with the sun shining down on it....hmmm.....
Is that Norway? No, it´s Spain! As I said, we´ve had TONS of RAIN and TONS of SNOW in Spain! On the news all the old people are saying how this isn´t normal weather, etc....
Crazy snow, but what a wonderful trip!
