The main reason we visited the city of Cordoba was to see the Mezquita, and it did not disappoint. The Mezquita of Cordoba is the only Great Mosque built under Islamic rule in Spain that still stands today. It was built in the 700s AD, when the Moorish dynasty was at its height. At the time, its territory included all of Spain and North Africa and the capital was at Cordoba.

The mosque has some truly spectacular architecture and art, and thankfully the Catholic monarchs who took over in the 1200s did not tear it down like they did in Toledo and Seville. Instead, they plunked a Baroque cathedral right in the center of it.


(You can play with an interactive satellite view of Cordoba here.) As you can see, the place is huge. On the north side is the Patio of Orange Trees, a wonderful feature of all Spanish mosques that provides nice shade. In the center you can see the cross-shaped roof of the Catholic cathedral, the rather incongruous addition of the 1520s.

I had learned about the Mezquita to write my website article, so it was really cool for me to see it in person, and to get our own photos to add to my article! David also really enjoyed the Mezquita, since it is so different and so photogenic. Here are some of our favorite pics.


View of the Mezquita from the bridge. The prominent raised part with the dome is the cathedral you saw in the satellite image.


As in Seville, horses and carriages stand ready outside the city's main attraction.


One of several beautifully decorated entrances to the mosque.


The Patio of Orange Trees and one of the towers.


In the Patio of the Orange Trees, looking towards the cathedral part of the Mezquita. In front is the fountain that was used for ritual washing (face, hands and feet) before prayers.


And here's what it looks like inside. Amazing! There are over 1,000 columns in here, many of which are Roman and come from the temple that originally stood on this site (yes, it's been quite a parade of religions here). The arches and columns were inspired by palm trees and their engineering was inspired by Roman aqueducts.



When this was used as a mosque, there was no outside wall - the rows of arches ran smoothly into the rows of orange trees out in the courtyard.


Here's a nice capital that is probably from Roman times too, and a glimpse of the pretty wooden ceiling.



And this is the mihrab, considered one of the most beautiful in the world. It's decorated with golden mosaic designs and Arabic script. It was really breathtaking.


The spectacular domed ceiling above the mihrab.


The main part of the cathedral was closed off for renovations, but we were still able to explore the choir. It is right in the center of the Mezquita (as you saw from space) and dates from the 1520s.


Some nice choir stalls and a glimpse of the organ.


And more glorious arches - they are just everywhere.

To see all our best photos of the Mezquita, check out the Mezquita Photo Gallery. The place is full of interesting details, so it's really worth a look.

After our Mezquita visit, we followed some charming little back streets to the nearby Jewish Quarter. Cordoba is famed for having been especially tolerant when it was under Islamic rule: Jews, Christians and Muslims all lived and prospered in harmony. My guess is that it was a little less ideal than advertised, but was still much better than later Catholic rule, when Jews and Muslims were simply kicked out of the country or killed if they didn't convert.

Cordoba has a synagogue that survives from the Islamic period, which has lovely carvings and decorations. This one and the two we visited in Toledo are the only medieval synagogues left in Spain. There's more info and a couple more photos in the Sinagoga de Cordoba article.

We arrived at the same time as a German tour group, so didn't get any good general photos of the interior, but the beauty is in the details anyway:


The outside, which overlooks a tiny courtyard off a tiny street.



Above are biblical texts in Hebrew and lovely Andalusian-style carvings. The chap on the bottom right is Rabbi Maimonides (1135-1204), a famous medieval Jewish philosopher, doctor and theologian, who was born in Cordoba. The statue is in a small courtyard just down the lane from the synagogue.


Above: Some general scenes from the Jewish Quarter. Note the potted flowers, which were everywhere and looked so nice against all the white walls. On the right is jamon, the famous Spanish ham that is similar to Italian prosciutto. It is smoked for over a year and considered quite a delicacy. Sadly, neither David nor I can stand the stuff. We like our meat cooked, and smoked isn't cooked!

On our way back out of town, we stopped by the Alcazar (castle), which is another of the major attractions of Cordoba. Rebuilt after the Reconquista by the Catholic kings, the Alcazar is notable for its beautiful gardens, a room that hosted the Spanish Inquisition, and some Roman mosaics from the 2nd and 3rd centuries.



We were considering going inside, but were once again thwarted by a long line:



Oh, well. We had a long drive ahead of us to Algeciras so it was time to get going anyway. We made the long trek back across the river to our car and were on our way.

Labels: cathedral, cordoba, mosque, spain