Spanish Holiday Day 10

 Day 10: Cordoba and Arrival in Granada

We left Sevilla this morning by car, heading to Granada with a stop in Cordoba on the way.  The forecast was for showers and t-storms, but apparently the travel gods were shining us (they seemed to have decided they have given us enough crap on prior trips) because we had great weather all day.  The drive was only about 1 1/2 hours getting us in by mid-morning.  Our guide, David (who immediately became David 2) met us at the center of town to begin a walking tour of the city. We were quite disappointed to learn that almost everything in Cordoba was closed on Mondays, including the old synagogue. 

A short timeline of Spanish history might be helpful at this point.  The Iberian Peninsula was conquered by the Carthaginians in 240 BCE and was later settled by none other than the Romans after the 2nd Punic War in around 200 BCE.  The peninsula was totally under Roman rule by 20 BCE and Roman rule continued until the fall of Rome and control by the Visigoths in 500 AD.  In 711, the peninsula  was conquered by the Moors from North Africa beginning a golden age of science, mathematics and philosophy during a time when the rest of Europe was ensconced in the Dark and Middle Ages.Spain under Moslem rule was also exceedingly tolerant of a wide variety of religions including both Christianity and Judaism.  Jews were prominent as physicians and philosophers, and many had appointments to the Islamic Caliphs. By 1248, the Christian Recoquista was nearly complete  with the surrender of Sevilla. Malaga and Granada the only remaining areas under Moslem rule.  In 1492, after 2 years of siege, Granada finally peacefully surrendered to the Christian forces under Ferdinand and Isabella, ending the reconquest and putting the entire peninsula under Christian rule.

Arrival in Cordoba

Royal Stables

We spent an hour or so walking around the old Jewish quarter of the city which is now home to many beautiful houses and artisans.

Cordoba was home to Moses Maimonides (Rambam), a Sephardic philosopher and scholar who lived from 1138-1204.  He was one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages, and was also an astronomer and personal physician to Saladin.  Cordoba was also home to Ibn Rushd (Avarroes) Maimonides's mentor a famous Islamic teacher of law, philosophy,mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.

Maimonides

Ibn Rushd, teacher of Moses Maimonides

City Wall

Gate to the Jewish Quarter

Old Synagogue

After touring the Jewish Quarter, we began our visit to the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. The history of the cathedral dates back, first, to a Visigothic church on this site from early in the millenium after the fall of Rome.  The Great Mosque of Cordoba was constructed on this site in 785 when Cordoba became the capital city of the Moslem controlled Al Andalus (Andalusia). It was expanded several times and the minaret was finished in 958.

Cordoba Cathedral

Minaret of the Mosque converted to Cathedral Tower

Original Floor of Mosque

The mosque was converted to a church in 1238 after the reconquest of Andalusia by Christian forces.  Rather than destroying the mosque as was done in most other cases here in Spain, the unique architecture of the mosque was preserved and the cathedral built inside it.

After completing our visit, we bade farewell to David 2.  On the way out of Cordoba we stopped for a view of the old Roman bridge.

Cordoba and the Roman Bridge

the rest of the day was spent in driving to Granada.

Our driver had a real hard time getting to our hotel.  We drove around and around several times until he finally got us to within fifty yards of the door. It was situated in the heart of the city near several squares and plenty of shopping and food.  Eating in Spain for Americans is very difficult.  The Spanish eat breakfast, then a snack around 11, followed by a huge lunch (the big meal of the day) at 3 or 3:30.  Then comes the inevitable siesta at which time restaurants and shops are closed.  Shops reopen around 5 but most restaurants do not reopen until 8.  Finding somewhere to eat at 6 is extremely difficult if not impossible.  We did find a pizza place open and partook in tinto de Verona and not half bad pizza.

Tomorrow, we visit the Ahambra.