The Heart of Moorish Spain - Cordoba

The river must have flooded recently as the usually lush and green islands between it's banks were stripped bare.
The bridge is Roman, the Tower and water wheel are Medieval

Cordoba is built on the banks of the Guadalquivir river that runs all the way to the capital of Andalusia, Cadiz on the Atlantic coast. We arrived from the opposite direction by train.

Checking out the Andalusia countryside.
Kitkat from the steward

Pairs of storks were building nests
on every pylon we whizzed past

Before catching a taxi to our hotel we went to the ticket office to buy our tickets to Madrid. M was very keen to travel on the superfast trains that run from Seville to Madrid and past Cordoba. He went to the information desk to find out which train we needed to ask for. The girls and I stared with genuine appreciation for the patience and cooperation of the Spanish woman he was acting to! The arm action and sound effects (to start - elbow in air flat palm down by hip then a fast movement of the palm from hip across chest, above opposite shoulder accompanied by the onomatopoeia of 'Whoosh') were effective and he found out that the fast trains were the Renfe avé. This promised to cover the 358Km from Cordoba to Madrid in 1hr and 45 mins at a maximum speed of 300km/h. At Euro 64,30 each it wasn't a cheap thrill!

Cordoba's huge train station - that train is the slow one we caught from Algeciras
Coming up the escalator a lady dropped her bags and only managed to get one off - the lady in front of me kicked her
wheelie bag and I picked up her handbag so we managed to scramble off without dominoes or injuries.

Rouins in Cordoba from La Cana d'Espana
Ask for a copy of their English Menu

We arrived at Hotel de Los Farloes http://www.hoteldelosfaroles.es/en  which is a stone throw from the Roman ruins (or Rouins as M has begun to call them all since they litter Europe and he felt an abbreviation was necessary). The great thing about finding comfortable family hotels in the thick of things means that you can walk to all the major spots and when the rest of your family are lounging about in their PJs in the morning you can go out and about able to quickly return when they are ready.  To be fair M was usually updating FBk for family to have a nose at what we were doing real time and the teens were growing - ie still sleeping.  Europeans don't seem to go in for early mornings either but behind the Rouins was a breakfast Café that did a proper cup of tea and was considerate enough to have windows facing east and the pillars!

The concierge at the hotel gave us a map of the old town center with all the cultural and historical sites we hoped to see. He also told us of a reasonably priced restaurant that did excellent local tapas dishes. We took his advice and headed off when we got hungry.

Coming out of Salinas, http://www.tabernasalinas.com  very full after several large tapas plates. They bought them out one at a time when we thought we'd ordered one each - didn't make that mistake again! Chicken Croquetas(croquettes) - yum, Lamb chops and green peppers, deep fried chorizo - very spicy and fatty plus what is in the photos below 

Salted Codfish and Orange salad - the House dish
They ran out of it and patrons were very disappointed
The fish didn't taste fishy at all  and had quite a creamy
texture- a strangely pleasing dish that I won't attempt at home

We ordered four deserts on purpose!
Oranges with cinnamon sugar
Rice pudding
Blueberry Cheesecake
Ice cream lollies

After the Halal food of Morocco the heavy emphasis on pork in Spain was a bit of a shock again. Oxtail and Pigs trotters featured on nearly every menu we saw. There was rarely a beef dish beyond the Oxtail so it made us wonder what they do with the rest of the animal?

After tea we rambled around the town and found that the shops were all open until 9pm, it looked like last minute Christmas shopping.  There were Christmas rides for little ones - although M was tempted by the reindeer train pulling Santa's sleigh. We stopped by the Rouins and found a collection of feral cats settling down for the night.  A guy came along and dropped a whole bag of meat scraps over the side of the glass petition and they had tea.

We asked the concierge (a student I think, who was valiant with his English) about the Christmas stuff and he explained that it was the Festival of the Light of the Kings (Dia de Los Reyes). It would seem that the commercial western world has the 12 days of Christmas back to front. Instead of counting down to the birth of Christ they count from the birth to when the Magi discover Him.  For the Eastern church the 6th of January is the Epiphany, anniversary of Jesus' baptism as well and far more important than Christmas day.  In Spain The Light of the Kings is celebrated by huge parades on the Eve where floats carrying the Kings throw gifts and sweets out to the crowds. The next morning is present day with families coming together to exchange gifts. The Christmas tree is taken down and any treats that have hung as decorations are eaten. Some still have a neighbourhood bonfires in the evening to burn the trees and celebrate the Light of the Kings.

Nativity scenes in every shop

Cordoba streets at 9:30pm Jan 4

A tailor's shop

The three Kings are creeping ever closer,
even through cycle repair stores.

One of the dozen or so floats parading through Cordoba.  They were joined by bands, mounted police & balloon salesmen. A group of kids in front of us had a huge plastic bag that they would all hold open wide to catch the goodies being thrown from each float.   One little girl on the Pepper pig float had sat herself down and was chomping through the lollies she had been given to throw out.

We had one day to explore Cordoba and a basic plan of attack. The Concierge had been on the money so far so we took his advice again and headed past everything to the Tower over the Roman bridge for a view of the city.  It was a museum as well - oh lucky day thought the girls who had been warned of the Mezquita stop and were looking forward to the Spanish horse dancing.  Not more fun! http://www.torrecalahorra.com/

Moorish musical instruments

Dancing to an audio file of the instruments

One of a room full of dioramas displaying Cordoba's past. This one is of the philosophers in the Mezquita - notice the three religions present.

View from the top of the Tower back over the city

Listening to the philosophers in the dark

Taking a photo of a model of the Alhambra in Granada - we didn't have time to go there as well.

 Some of the fun the Museum offered.

In the second room were four figures - they were four of the many big thinkers to have been born and live in Cordoba and to have also influenced their world dramatically.  When Petal pushed the button they lit up one at a time and gave a little speech - quotes from their works.  A very simplified summary follows.
Zahiri (994-1064 Arabic Ibn Hazm) He liked to compare religions to find the common factor of God running through all. He believed that God was love and so anything that was not love was not of God. He wrote 'The Ring of the Dove' about the art of love. He also believed women could be prophets and world leaders - he became unpopular with some Muslim leaders.
Averroes(1126-1198 Arabic-Ibn Rushd) Among many other things he spoke about the equality of women as stated in the Quran.
Maimonides(1135 - 1204 Jewish, also called Rambam - must be his gangster name) argued that as all things were created by God, nothing discovered in the new sciences could disprove Him so let us not be afraid but investigate to clarify our knowledge of the creator. Died in Egypt.

Alfonso the Wise

Alfonso X (1221 - 1284, Christian, crowned King of Castile and Leon in 1252) He won back Cadiz for the crown from the Moors yet ran a court in Cordoba where all religions were tolerated and the sharing of philosophy and science was encouraged. Cordoba had a library of over 32,000 volumes which included the Greek writers that were entirely lost to western civilisation after the collapse of the Roman Empire. He composed music and translated Arabic texts into Latin. The Pope was a bit peeved with his acceptance of other faiths and tried to excommunicate and depose him. He encouraged Christians, Jews and Muslims to live together in peace and harmony. After his death this ideal slipped and was completely destroyed after the last Moor stronghold in Granada fell to Isabella and Ferdinand with the Inquisition hard on their heels in 1492.
Cordoba lived in the light when the rest of Europe was in the dark then as the Renaissance began in Europe Spain fell back into superstition and cruelty.

A view from the Lion Tower at the palace that Alfonso X began and the XI completed

Overlooking the fish pond I wonder if this is
where the cod fish are farmed.

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos is Spanish for Palace of the Christian Kings. Its gardens are more impressive than the interiors. All the citrus trees were laden with fruit and a fragrant garden was planted ready for spring. There were about 15 meters of hyacinths planted in one section - that will be a heady experience. Walls were covered in Jasmine and penny royal lined the paths.  We watched as one woman picked an olive off the tree and spat it out in disgust, they taste really bad before they are soaked and rinsed and fermented. I have no idea who figured out that tricky procedure.

Next we walked down to the Royal Stables where Felipe II demanded that a beautiful dancing Spanish horse be breed to  perfect the dressage skills being developed in Naples.
In 1567 the project began and now these horses are famous all over the world. Willow was so sad that the show was closed for the Epiphany week.  Have a look at someone else's holiday video to see what we missed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zq31anzEPA

So close - yet so far.

Cordobians are very proud that several famous matadors have sprung from their city in recent years. We went to a place that had advertised hands on experiences with local artisans but all we found was an empty bar with a sand floor and an interesting display about bull fighting.  Another place closed because of the holidays was the leather workshop - Meryan. Here they demonstrate and sell products of  the 'Guadameci' technique. 'Cordobans' are boxes and chests decorated in this style. Thanks to Arabic tanning skills with sumac(a plant native to Morocco and Spain that produces light coloured and soft leathers) and this technique of applying a thin layer of silver upon the tanned leather to prep for painting and tooling, a Medieval art form and luxury good was born.

Just as well it wasn't open really - these beautiful blank notebooks would have been hard to resist
You can order over the web though - so not all is lost, http://www.meryancor.com 

An old world map tooled in Cordova leather

Can't you imagine the New World gold stashed away in one of these

Road to Casa de las Tradiciones. The exhibition was closed but we saw the displays and were invited to take a photo.
I think Willow got caught 'dancing' again.

We may not have found the craftsmen but Petal
was tempted to take the buggy for a run through
the curly roads.

M didn't fancy getting dressed up as a Matador
A brave but cruel entertainment.  The argument is that the
mighty bull is given a glorious way to die that celebrates
his strength.  Not my cup of tea.

Not the KKK!  A cod fish shaped hood
to hide the faces of the penitent in the processions
of mournful music in the week before Easter.

We were ALL very excited to be seeing the Grand Cathedral or Mezquita after 3pm (As it was Sunday it was closed to tourists until after Mass). So we started looking for lunch.

Proving too tempting for Petal - lunch on the tour

Orange trees everywhere

Christmas flowers everywhere too

Christmas party on upstairs but the courtyard
was lovely.

Carmen's corner was the
Pequeño restaurante we chose

A little street around the corner from the Mezquita with many eateries
Carmen's sign on right in black and white.  I don't know who the girl is
but the dress and cape are pretty cool. Few cars but many scooters.

Adding to his ethnic hat collection.  Most of the leather in the store was from Fes - we could smell it!
Petal left her Christmas Euros back at the hotel so didn't get the black backpack top right.

Smelling more History and Citrus

Don Ashby ever patient with Willow behind the lens as I
line up for tickets to yet another church. 

Petal has become quite jolly in the face of the inevitable but even she was impressed with the interior of the
Cathedral behind her.  Queue for tickets right. 

Pool below the Bell Tower.  Notice the stone irrigation channels built into the courtyard.  They run through each
row of orange trees, flooding the 2m circle around the base of each one before running down to the next. 

Inside at last.  

The Moors built the pillars and arches as a Mosque from 661-750CE. The Romans had built a temple to Janus on the site first then the conquering Visigoth pushed that down and built a church. The early Moors built a small Mosque. Then when the Umayyad prince, kicked out by the Abbasids - about the same time as Idris who founded Fes, took over he made Cordoba his capital and began the huge project above to equal the grandeur of Damascus. After King Ferdiand III retook Cordoba for Christendom the building was rededicated to the Roman Catholic Church. Alphonso X refused to have it torn down and instead had a Christian Nave built inside it. Later centuries saw more Catholic additions until Charles the V( same guy who took Gibraltar finally from the Moors) is said to have uttered on seeing it for the first time 'they have taken something unique in all the world and destroyed it to build something you can find in any city.'

The Mihrab - gilded with a dome of exquisite beauty above.

The Cathedral inside the Moor's Mosque

The contrast and blend of the two cultures

Moor arches beside the Mihrab

Choir stalls, Pipes at top, staring at the ceiling

This image is idolatry to the Muslims

One of the Medieval texts on display

Aerial shot of the Mezquita and the Orange Courtyard.  Image from: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org

Beautiful detail in he dome above the Mihrab This was gated off so the image is from http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org

Bell Tower built around the Minaret with bells
stolen from another Cathedral ringing.

Beautiful Mosaics on the outside too.

Tomato and oil for on toast
at La Cana d'Espana
Their toast was fresh baked
and very serious sizes.
I should have ordered a
1/4 slice but the
oat bread was good.
Lovely staff.

Waiting for the girls to come down in the atrium at our hotel - stage for flamenco
No M wasn't tempted to try it out.

Cafe at the Train station - action ordering again. Good coffee but no perros(dogs) allowed.

Waiting for our fast train

Watch out here it comes

Reading Now:
The Mosque of Cordoba told to Children  by Miguel Sanchez (Available in English, Spanish and French) Graficas La Madraza. This publisher also has a similar book about the Alhambra in Granada. 
The text is brief and a little trite but the cartoons accompanying it are clear and informative.