WHY CORDOBA
When we arrived here yesterday and took a short walk in the old town, we saw large group after large group of tourists (not Americans, but Spanish, Asian, and others) following the voice or the flag of their guide. The town was busy and, so seemingly touristy, we wondered why Cordoba was on our itinerary. Today we got the answer.
CORDOBA’S LAYERED HISTORY
Cordoba is a city of 325,000 people in a largely agricultural area. Olives, wheat, artichokes, and pistachios are just some of the crops grown here; this was apparent on the drive from Bilbao when we passed endless stretches of mostly brown fields and almost no small towns.
In its distant past, Cordoba was much more important, had a population of a million at its peak, and was the capital of its region. It has history as a Roman city and then an Arab one and then one dominated by Catholics and the church.
For a brief period, Muslims, Catholics, and Jews all lived together peacefully. The Jews were then required to convert to Catholicism or leave, and the Catholics were in power. Many Jews left, but some stayed, changing their names, giving up the overt practice of their religion, but still retaining some skills and interest in fine embroidery and the craft of silver filigree jewelry.
JEWISH QUARTER AND ARAB COURTYARDS
We spent the morning hours with guide Miriam who began our tour in the Jewish Quarter in the old town. For the first hour or so, the streets were quiet and mostly empty. We learned that many tourist groups visit for just a few hours and don’t stay overnight.
We ambled down narrow streets, admired walls decorated with colored flower pots, gazed longingly into beautifully planted interior courtyards, and visited an ancient synagogue.
We stopped to pay our respects to philosopher lawyer Maimonides whose statue graces a tiny square near a larger one with his name.
MOSQUE TO CATHEDRAL
Cordoba is likely unique in the world in having a mosque that became a cathedral. Today, residents here say, “I went to mass at the mosque.” Originally in the 6th century, the basilica built here was Christian; with the arrival of the Muslims in the 8th century, the building was divided and used by both groups. In the 10th century, the reigning caliph added a new minaret and began the expansion of the mosque with several new sections. At this time, Cordoba and the Umayyad Caliphate, in particular, had power and influence and began to replace Damascus in importance in the Muslim world.
In the 11th century, the caliphate in Cordoba was dissolved, and in the 13th century, the mosque building was re-dedicated as a Catholic Church. The first modifications included a royal chapel (1371) and then in the 16th century, a bishop ordered that the transept be built, in essence, creating a Christian cathedral within the structure of a mosque. Our guide summarized it by stating that for 500 years, it was a mosque; for 800 years a Catholic Church. As a very large mosque, it was able to accommodate 40,000 Muslims at services.
The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba is an amazing building and certainly was the high point of our visit to this city. Named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984, today it hosts both daily and Sunday masses.
Our visit also happened to occur after a weekend religious processional; the oversized “floats” from that parade were on display this week only in the cathedral. They tell the story of Christ from birth to crucifixion.
RELAXED LUNCH
As a treat, after many rounds of pinxtos, we dined at Arbequina, a lovely restaurant in a nearby hotel. We started with a local dish of fried eggplant with miso and Parmesan cheese which the Chief Penguin selected and really liked.
Then he had scallops in a wine, mango, dill sauce with roasted corn, while I savored paper-thin slices of cold sea bass with pickled onion, ponzu, and tiny red berries. These dishes were all fairly light.
We indulged and shared a slice of Gorgonzola cheesecake which was topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a scattering of popcorn. Different, not particularly sweet, and very good!
Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)
