continued…

Saturday morning we took the train to Cordoba and made our way to our hotel the Reposo de Bagdad in the centre of the Jewish quarter. We checked in then headed out for a walk around La Juderia. The narrow lanes, streets and pathways were even smaller than in Seville and the majority of the buildings had boxes of flowers on their whitewashed windows. The highlight of Cordoba is the Mezquita, the Cathedral. Originally the basilica of San Vicente,it was expropriated and destroyed in 785 by the Muslims after the Islamic invasion of Cordoba. It was then that they began construction of the Mosque, a building that would come to be considered the most important sanctuary of Western Islam in a time when Cordoba was the capital of Al Andalus. The Mosque went through several stages of construction, initially inspired by the Mosque of Damascus but with a strong Hispano-Roman influence. When King Ferdinand III reconquered Cordoba in 1236 he had the mosque purified and returned into a site consecrated to Christ which included the removal of the palm trees from the courtyard and replaced with the orange trees which are still there today, and the present day tower was built over the minaret.

It was one of the most amazing, most beautiful sites I have ever visited.

The rest of the day followed much the same as the previous days. Stops for tapas and wine in restaurants. Stops for tapas and wine in a variety of bodegas. Stops for tapas and wine in the centre of large squares in the sunshine. We visited an old Synagogue, we stopped for mint tea and Moroccan pastries when we stumbled on a tea house, and we got lost over and over again in the maze of alleyways.

Cordoba’s historical centre is much smaller and it appears to have retained more of it’s Moorish influence compared to Seville. At only an hour or so away by train it is well worth visiting if for no other reason to visit the Mezquita. For dinner we found a fantastic restaurant and had our best meal yet, it was a reasonably early night for Spain and we were up bright and early the next morning for our return to Seville where we managed to take in a tour of what is considered to be one of the finest bullrings in Spain. The tour was quick and efficient, very un-Spanish with a quick tour around the museum housed in the depths of the bullring where stories of famous matadors, their colourful costumes and the stuffed heads of their conquests graced the walls.

It was a great trip. Maybe too short but a great way to whet our appetite to see more of Andalucia another time. The food was amazing, the wine as well and all up it’s only half the price of Paris. I had a fantastic time.

Cordoba pictures here.