Tuesday 5th February 2008

We had been told that the walk into the centre was only about 20 minutes, so we decided to do that rather than take a bus. If practical, we always try to do this because you get to see the real city, not just the tourist areas. I took the laptop with me on the basis that we were bound to find an Internet café that had WiFi or where I could plug into the network. Not far from the campsite we passed a McDonalds and were tempted to use their WiFi facility and then take the laptop back to Henrietta but they were still closed. This seemed a bit odd as it was gone 10:00 but we suspect that, given that the Spanish eat lunch and dinner very late (22:00 is quite normal for dinner), Mcdonalds probably opens and closes much later than in most other countries. We actually tried three other Internet cafés during the day and, surprisingly, none of them had WiFi or allowed laptops to be attached to their network.
We strolled through the streets of the old town until we came to Cordoba's most important site – the Mezquita (mosque). This was founded under Moorish rule by Abd ar-Rahhman I in 785 AD and extended in the 960s to cope with the expanding population of the city. In 1236, after the Christian reconquest, the building was turned into a church but without major alterations. Unfortunately, in the 16th century the centre of the mosque was ripped out to create a cathedral – King Carlos I of Spain reputedly said to the religious authorities, “You have destroyed something that was unique in the world”. The Christian parts of the Mezquita are beautiful but it is the Islamic part surrounding it that is awe inspiring and it is still considered one of the most beautiful Islamic buildings in the world. It is intriguing to see the mixture of the Islamic and Christian architecture, blending very well – the vaulted arches and domes of the church surrounded by the maze of red and white Islamic arches. The arches are supported by marble columns and capitals, many of them looted from Roman sites by the Moors, some of them even from Carthage. This means that, in the older part of the Mezquita, the columns are in many different colours of marble and the capitals often don't match. In the newer part the columns were made locally and don't quite have the same character. I could have included twenty or more photographs of the Mozquita and still not have done it justice – if you can, come and see it for yourselves.
After viewing the very smart, newly restored and cleaned Roman Bridge, we went to the square that the campsite receptionist had recommended for lunch. Despite the fact that it was 13:30, it appeared that were the only ones who were eating. There were lots of people sitting in the sun with drinks but it was not until we left, at just before 15:00, that the restaurants were busy serving food. The highlight of the meal was the local speciality of cold tomato soup 'Salmorejo' topped with small pieces of cured ham. We also tried some of the local Montilla wine that was very similar to a good dry sherry. We were quite glad to leave the square as, although the air was quite cool, it was getting very warm (for the British, not the Spaniards) sat in the sun.
On then to the Archaeological Museum which was interesting with some excellent Roman mosaics but the lack of any English translations took the edge off the enjoyment.
The rest of the day was spent wandering though the old town and staring into people's houses. I should explain that this is not something that we normally do! Many of the houses in the old town are in Moorish style with central, often open, courtyards or patios surrounded by the house. In Cordoba it is the tradition to decorate these patios and in May, when they are often covered in bloom, they open them to the public. They are obviously proud of their patios and often leave their front doors open so that you can walk up to the wrought iron gate at the entrance to the patio. We saw many beautifully decorated patios and it would be wonderful to come back one May and see them in all of their glory.
We walked back via the train station (for train times to Seville) and Carrefour (for supplies) and got back to the campsite at 18:30 with aching legs and feet!
Photos: The red and white arches of the Mozquita; The doorway to the Mihrab, the holiest part of the mosque; Mozquita; Ceiling of the church dome (almost certainly just restored); Cordoba's newly restored Roman bridge; one of the many beautiful Cordoba patios.