Like Andalusia, Cordoba is Spain and much more: a melting pot of civilizations. Romans, Muslims, Jews, Catholics all left their mark in this city where the three great monotheistic religions coexisted in peace. Symbol of the city, the mosque-cathedral is one of the most eloquent testimonies of syncretism in Andalusian fashion.

But far from being frozen in history, Cordoba is quite simply a city where life is good. Behind the whitewashed and sun-drenched walls, the patios bloom at every corner of the lane. The ceramic pots overflow with flowers and the fountains gurgling: an enchanting decor with the air of the Garden of Eden.

Built in the middle of fertile fields of the Guadalquivir valley, Cordoba was from the 8th century a thriving cultural center. It was the capital of Al-Andalus, these territories of the Iberian Peninsula conquered by the Moors, then capital of the Caliphate of the Umayyads. Under the Muslim rule, countless palaces were created, as well as hammams (Moorish baths) and nearly a thousand mosques. It was for Cordoba a golden age. Its influence was such that it rivaled the splendors of Constantinople, Damascus and Baghdad.

An emblematic monument of Cordoba, the Mezquita-Catedral (mosque-cathedral) is one of the most atypical and moving monuments in Andalusia. Built by the Umayyads, it marks the peak of Islamic civilization on the Iberian Peninsula and is one of the largest Islamic buildings in the West.

The Christian Kings transformed the Great Mosque into a church, before it was promoted to the rank of cathedral. A synthesis of cultures and styles, this monument alone sums up the whole history of Cordoba. Cordouans are now used to saying that it is the only mosque in the world where you can listen to the organ.

The surrounding wall opens onto the orange tree courtyard (Los Naranjos patio), a delicious preamble to the visit. This is where ablutions were practiced. Between the Mudejar and Baroque style fountains, the patio is always planted with orange trees, palm trees and cypresses. Between the trees still run the remains of irrigation canals inspired by Arab techniques. The courtyard is dominated by the Renaissance bell tower, which has taken over the structure of the minaret.

The interior of the mosque-cathedral is a palimpsest of religions and a conservatory of architectural styles: Moorish and Umayyad, then, in the central cathedral, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and finally Mannerist.

Some construction elements of the original Visigoth basilica remain visible. The decorations are sprinkled with Roman and Byzantine notes. In the splendor of the caliphate (the 8th century), the mosque adopted the Umayyad style. While one of the largest mosques in the world, its architecture served as a model. Its minaret, in particular, inspired those of Seville and Marrakech.

And the mosque became cathedral

Another reversal of history: in 1236, Cordoba was taken over by the troops of Ferdinand III of Castile: one of the final stages of the Reconquista. The Christian Kings transformed the Great Mosque into a cathedral. The building is converted to Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles, respecting Islamic architecture.

Once inside, a forest of marble and alabaster columns surrounds the central chapel. Each of the approximately 900 columns are surmounted by a double row of two – colored arcades, striped with white and red. The horseshoe arches are a distinctive sign of the Umayyad Caliphate. Not having columns high enough to compete with the height of the mosques in Damascus, the builders opted for a double row of arches, which made it possible to gain in height.

Behind the maqsura, a private space in the prayer hall, the Byzantine-style mirhab is the most sacred place in the mosque, one of its jewels. Its dome is set with mosaics, ceramics and multicolored marbles, with plant motifs: trees of life, pomegranates, palm trees, jasmines, lily flowers, pinecones.

Due to the imprecision of measuring instruments at the time, the mosque was not entirely oriented towards Mecca. But having become a kind of Mecca in the West, it served as a reference for the orientation of other mosques on the Old Continent.

Arranged at the edge of the forest of columns, the cathedral breaks the perspectives of the columns. The half-light gives way to the luminosity of the dome, and the duotone of the columns to the whiteness of the Mudejar stuccos. The cathedral combines Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

For the anecdote, 16 columns were destroyed in the center of the mosque with a view to fitting out the first chapel of the Christian Kings. Charles V, who had nevertheless agreed to this transformation, was sorry when he discovered the place. He would have said: “You destroyed what was unique in the world to build what is seen everywhere.”

The Alcázar and the legacy of the Christian Kings

In the middle of the Reconquista, it was from Cordoba that the Catholic Monarchs prepared for the resumption of Granada, the last Muslim bastion that fell in 1492. In addition to the conversion of the mosque into a cathedral, the Christian Kings restored the Roman bridge and the Roman walls and built new defensive constructions.

They built the Alcázar of the Christian Kings, the emblematic monument of Catholic Cordoba. This Mudejar- style fortress-palace overlooks the Guadalquivir River. He lived the great hours of the court of the Catholic Monarchs, hosted official ceremonies and receptions, before becoming the seat of the Inquisition. The fortress consists of the tower, the tower of the Inquisition square, crenellated, a baroque chapel of 17 th century, baths Mudejars and a bunch patio.

The Alcázar gardens promise a delicious walk between water and vegetation. The rectilinear basins are framed by rows of cypresses. They are bordered by groves of orange trees, gardens of medicinal plants and squares of lobelia, recognizable by their ultramarine blue color. A haven of serenity in the city.

La Judería, the Jewish quarter of Cordoba

Back in the narrow and quirky alleys of the old town. The Judería, the old Jewish quarter, extends all around the old mosque-cathedral. Walls surround this maze of alleys and passages. In the 10 th century, the Sephardic Jewish community of Cordova was the largest of the Iberian world. It contributed to the cultural influence and the prosperity of the city.

The calleja del Pañuelo (alley of the Handkerchief) is a lane 75 cm wide at its narrowest passage. It leads to the homonymous square, one of the smallest squares in the world, very cute under its tree whose foliage tickles the walls.

Further afield, the small synagogue of the 13 th century is a Mudejar pearl. The walls bear inscriptions in Hebrew, once covered with plaster after the expulsion of the Jews in 15 th century. It is the only synagogue still preserved in Andalusia, and one of the three remaining in Spain (the other two being in Toledo). The synagogue then served as a hospital, the headquarters of the cobblers’ corporation, and a school.

The Judería district perpetuates a typically local craft: the guadamecí or guadamacile, originally from North Africa. The leather work is one of the oldest crafts in Andalusia, and one of the prides of Cordoba. The leather is tanned and painted, engraved with plant or geometric patterns, then decorated with gold or silver leaf.

Leatherworking techniques are inherited from those of the Umayyads, who already worked it for ornamental purposes. Let us not forget that Cordoba was renowned for its tradition of shoemaking. We owe him the word “shoemaker”.

Even today, the artisans assembled in a guild continue to gild, polychrome and shoe the leathers. The guadamacile is used to decorate cases, shoes, gloves, bags, chests … Techniques and creations are to be discovered at the Museo del Guadamecí Omeya.

The patios, hidden gems of Cordoba

In Cordoba, flowers are everywhere: in pots, lining the walls of houses, in planters on wrought iron balconies, in jars or in beds sheltered from patios, on fruit trees in thickets … The streets are present as a taste of the patios. The whitewashed facades are inlaid with colored tiles. Flowerpots are attached to the walls in more or less anarchic clusters.

To discover the patios, hidden gems of Cordoba, you have to push the carriage doors. Flagships of popular Andalusian architecture, the patios of Cordoba are reputed to be among the most beautiful in Andalusia. Their key words are freshness and tranquillity, luxuriance and refinement.

Some houses have a vestibule, a Muslim heritage. Under the porches, in secret courtyards and patios, the floors are covered with patterned stone paving, real mosaics of polished stones, which act as natural air conditioning.

It is to the Romans that we owe the Mediterranean tradition of patios, then perpetuated by the Arabs. The residential buildings and the living rooms are arranged around a central open-air courtyard. The patios protect from the sun and heat, as well as from looks, while providing a shaded outdoor space.

The patios take various styles (popular patio, stately home, ornamental, monumental) and various functions. Some served as places of rest or life, others as work or storage space, pleasure garden, pageantry or medicinal plants. Some patios are thus converted into an interior courtyard. Others, on the contrary, leave the plant entirely free, which gives them garden airs.

With their messy flowers, the patios play a symphony of colors and scents. The lack of space between the alleys of the old town gives rise to semi-green walls, decorated with ceramic pots loaded with flowers. Between the lines of decoration in azulejos, the windows closed by wrought iron grids and the two-story galleries, the Majorelle blue color of the pot’s contrasts with the whiteness of the walls. Begonias, petunias, carnations, geraniums, wisteria, roses, bougainvilleas offer palettes of blue and red, fuchsia, purple and Majorelle blue.

As early as 1918, the Cordouans began to open their patios to the public. Since 1921, each year in the beautiful month of May, the city has organized a flower-filled patio competition. The owners adorn their courtyards and facades to win a prestigious prize offered by the town hall. The Patios Festival is now on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

The most beautiful patios in Cordoba

The Alcázar Viejo district (the Old Alcázar) is home to the most beautiful patios, and there are also some very beautiful old specimens in Judería and around the mosque-cathedral.

But Viana’s palacio alone is an anthology of patios. Stately home and mansion, it houses between its wings and its outbuildings no less than 12 patios, the most beautiful collection of patios in Cordoba. They even earned it the nickname “patio museum”.

Let’s go for a sensory journey, in which each patio has its character. First of all, in the decoration: arcade belt or green walls, water lily basin or fountain, decorative earthenware or arbor, well or water trough.

The patios deliver wide ranges of plant and floral species that play the card of chromatic assortments. Cypresses and fruit trees – mainly orange and date palms – draw shadows on the squares of aromatic herbs and on the flower beds. Posed on stone pavements, fountains gurgling. In this kingdom of delicacy and silence just disturbed by the rustling of the water from the fountains, romanticism guaranteed!

In addition to patios, the Viana de palacio reflects the lifestyle of the nobility in 15 th century, over parts largely furnished and decorated. Nobles and lords engaged in collecting. Under coffered ceilings of Mudejar or Mannerist styles, the palace thus shelters collections of works of art: old furniture, paintings, tapestries, ceramics, earthenware, porcelains…

Madinat al-Zahra

On the outskirts of Cordoba, the palace city of Madinat al-Zahra was built to the glory of Abd al-Rahman III. In the 10 th century, this emir claimed the title of Caliph of the Umayyads of Cordoba. According to custom, every newly appointed caliph had to build a new palatial city. Thus, came out of the ground Madinat al-Zahra, literally the “city that shines” or “sparkling city”. The choice of location owes nothing to chance: at the foot of the mountain, overlooking the Guadalquivir valley, with views of Cordoba.

Cordoba then had the vocation of a religious center, while Madinat al-Zahra served as a political center and seat of administrative power. The city welcomed up to 20,000 inhabitants, but its reign was only 8 decades, until the collapse of the Caliphate of Cordoba. A museum presents objects found during excavations on the site, and a film in computer-generated images shows reconstructions of buildings and scenes of life.

The palatial city is built in terraces: caliph’s residence, reception rooms, administrative buildings, public squares, mosque, houses, hammams and stud farms are interspersed with hanging gardens and ponds. The caliph lived in the residences of Alc ázar, where the courtyard also flourished, near the administrative buildings. The medina is located on another terrace, below the Alcázar. Another special mention for the Ya’far casa, once one of the most beautiful stately homes, certainly owned by the Prime Minister. We still tread on its white marble floor.

Getaway to Priego de Córdoba
If you come to Cordoba from Granada by road, Priego de Córdoba acts as a charming stopover. Perched on a cliff in the Sierra Subbética Natural Park, this typically Andalusian town preserves the customs, architecture and crafts of the region. Whitewashed houses line up in a medieval historic center. They open onto heavy wooden doors with massive knockers, and the windows are closed by wrought iron grilles.

Priego de Córdoba is renowned for its stately homes, and especially for its Baroque churches. In the winding alleys of the “Villa” district, of Muslim origin, the small churches and hermitages provide a panorama of Baroque trends: primitive, neoclassical, flamboyant, rococo… The only constant: decorative exuberance.

This architectural marathon is well worth a break on the benches surrounding the King’s fountain, with Mannerist, Baroque and Neoclassical influences. A place to live and visit from 16 th century. No less than 139 taps spit water in several terraced pools.

With its alleys and small squares, Priego de Córdoba is an open garden. Pots of pelargoniums, flowers with warm colors, which resemble to be mistaken for geraniums, hang on the walls of a sparkling white. Leaving the alleys, the Balc ón del Adarve overlooks an Andalusian landscape where the olive tree is king.

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