Cordoba

Cordoba is a little town with a lot of history – it used to be the Moorish capital of the western world. The history was the main reason I decided to go. I knew I’d get a taste of archaeology, but I didn’t know it’d be from four different cultures – Moors, Jews, Christians and Romans!

Here’s the main square of Cordoba:

Cordoba is a place a lot of Spaniards visit. It tells a story of spanish origins.
The streets near where I was staying were tiny – and the taxi river that got me to the hostel from the bus station was crazy, he was like a rally car driver. Interesting journey.

The first day of being in Cordoba was an adjustment period, I learnt that the hostel didn’t have kitchen facilities as I had thought. Bugger. So that meant that I would be eating out for every meal except breakfast for the next three days.
Oh well. It would be an excercise in cuisine (and a strain on the wallet).
I did have some great food in here: gazpacho, grilled fish, and more. Not really knowing what things on the menu are is a great way to experiment. I ordered a chorizo something or other, the waiter asked me if I wanted a half racion or a full….I should have said half, because I ended up with a huge bowl full of nothing but chorizo soaked in red wine. It was damn nice though.
I was even more pleased when I noticed they had PX dulce (the infamous Don Pedro Ximinez sweet wine).
So, the last night in Cordoba was quite nice.
Although I really should have only stayed for two nights.

Okay: the pictures.
Here’s in and around the Mezquita, the 1000 year old mosque cum cathedral:

Unfortunately, the interior of the Mezquita was poorly lit so some of the shots didnt come out quite as nice as I’d have hoped.

I really liked the muslim part of the building. It’s plain and elegant, whereas the Christian parts are of course over the top and almost kitsch in comparison. That’s not to say that there was no craft involved in the production of these gaudy structures! Quite the contrary. So much time and money must have been spent on trying to convince people of a religions’ power and authority.
Sigh.

The next day I went out of town to the other Moorish historical structure – the Al Azahara. It began construction in about 918 AD or so I believe…. it was intended to be a whole other city outside the walls of Cordoba, a place that would define Moors in Andalucia as being their own bosses, cutting ties with Baghdad.
Quite an amazing place.

Other highlights of Cordoba include getting lost in it’s maze of old streets and alleys, seeing an impromptu Capoeira display and not being able to eat anything because everything was shut for siesta. Well, I’m getting used to it a bit more now.

Next stop:

Sevilla!