Monday 7th March: Cordoba

The journey from Aranjuez to Cordoba crosses the high central plains. These are sparsely populated agricultural lands, cold in winter and baking in summer. We got the cold bit, with some sleet, but otherwise easy driving on a deserted motorway. The weather perked up towards our destination, so we visited Cordoba the following day in bright sunshine.

Cordoba’s archaeology goes back to the Bronze Age, but recorded history starts in 152 BC when it was founded as a Roman city. The roman bridge still survives, and crosses the wide river Guadalquivir near the historic centre.

The Moors’ (Arab) conquest of Spain began In 711, and within 10 years they controlled most of the country. In 756 Cordoba became their capital, and grew to become, it is said, the greatest city in Europe.

Water supply was a particular Moorish skill, and here’s a reconstructed waterwheel of the type that was used then and continues to be used, in some places, up to the present. The wheel draws water up from the river and feeds it into the supply system. Might explain why the campsite mains water is such a trickle.

The old town is a huddle of narrow streets with whitewashed buildings, following the lines of the old Moorish city. This is similar to Moroccan towns we’ve seen, not surprising as many Moorish craftsmen and settlers came from Morocco.

Parts of the old city walls still stand, and again notice the water features fundamental to the city’s functioning in this hot, dry region.

The old centre is adorned with various grand buildings displaying high quality workmanship, for example this doorway. 

But Cordoba’s jewel in the crown, and the reason for its World Heritage status, is the Mezquita (the Mosque) and the Cathedral. Extraordinarily, they are both part of the same building.This is one of its external walls stretching into the distance, on the right side of the photo, which indicates how extensive it is.

The Mezquita (mosque) was built by the conquering Moors in 786.They bought the old St Vincent’s cathedral from the Christians and demolished most of it to create room for the mosque.  However, they incorporated the part of St Vincent’s wall shown in the photo below, where you can see both Christian and later Muslim styles. I’m not sure exactly which is which, either.

The Mezquita is entered through a large courtyard containing a bell tower that was built around the original minaret. The courtyard contains fountains for Muslim ritual purification before entering the mosque. The current fountains are not original but the essence of the courtyard, with its orange trees, is preserved.

So let’s enter this magnificent mosque and discover how it comes to contain a cathedral. This is nothing to do with the original St Vincent’s cathedral, but a later and more controversial addition. That’s the subject of our next blog.