Cordoba

A couple of days into our time in Seville, we decided to take a day trip to Cordoba. Katy had read great things about/seen great pictures of the Mezquita (Mosque) there, so we decided to make a go of it. We had to wake up to get on the 9am train; it was a good thing we were a bit early, because we found out that not only do Spanish trains run on time, but the station's clock was about 5 minutes ahead of ours. We got into Cordoba by 10:30am or so, and it was a local bus and some walking before we made it to the Mezquita.

The Mezquita was originally a mosque built in the 8th century AD by Abd ar-Rahman I who bought the old Visigoth church that used to occupy the site. Apparently he wanted to create a more horizontal mosque rather than the standard tall and imposing mosques in order to recreate the experience of praying to Allah in the desert. They used columns from the old church and other places, and we noticed that not all the columns were the same style (although they used varied base sizes to get a uniform height in the end). The really cool part of the Mezquita was the red and white horseshoe arches all along the interior, using repetition to create weird tricks of perspective.



[1-Columns and windows at the entrance of the Mezquita,
2 & 3-The red and white horshoe arches abovehead]

The next couple of Al-Andalus rulers after him made additions in the spirit of the design, including a very ornate mihrab (kind of like an altar/dome?). Mosaics from the Byzantine emperor were the big visual draw here. There were also some really cool arches in the area outside the mihrab, where the caliphs prayed (called the maksura). They had horsehoe arch upon horseshoe arch upon horseshoe arch, really complicated and exciting in a geometry nerd kind of way.


[1-The mihrab and its Byzantine mosaics, 2-The maksura and its fancy arches]

So, after the Christian Reconquista, some of the Christian rulers decided they'd leave their mark and convert it to a Cathedral. They did this by adding a bunch of fenced-off chapels along the sides and plopping in a huge f-ing choir and chapel/altar in the middle of the whole thing. Apparently even the king who gave the go-ahead wasn't pleased with the results and lamented that he'd "destroyed something unique in the world." I'd say he was right - the Christian additions really don't fit and mess up the flow of the whole place. The Church, however, in their tourist brochure, admits to nothing and instead praises the "ingenious integration of the caliph structures." In its history section, the brochure also contrasts the Islamic "invasion," "intervention," and "destruction of the [original Visigoth] martyr church," with the Christian "transformation," "restoration," and "recuperation of a sacred space that had suffered the imposition" of the Muslim faith. They also remind us that:

It is the Church, through its Cathedral Chapter, that has made it possible to keep the former mosque of the Western Caliphate, the oldest Cathedral in Spain, and a World Heritage Site, from becoming a heap of ruins.

Righto - thank you Church.


[The inside of the choir, one of the incongruous pieces of Christian architecture. Doesn't quite go with the rest, no?]

Anyway, overall it was a really impressive place, even with the later additions blocking space and light. It would have been amazing to see the original design intact, though.

Afterwards, we wandered the narrow streets of Jewish quarter. It started out really touristy with lots of kitschy shops; I managed to chip a coaster-holder shaped like a giant penis but ditched out before I would be forced to buy the monstrosity. But further back past that area was a cute neighborhood with slanting, winding streets and houses with well-groomed patios. Apparently they even have a patio contest in May.


[In the Jewish quarter]

We decided to skip out on the Palace and Alcazar, as we'd seen something like that in Seville. We headed to the Julio Romero de Torres Museum, showcasing the work of a controversial Cordoban artist; some say he's trashy, others say he captures the passionate heart of Andalucia. Unfortunately, it was closed for siesta already. We contemplated visiting the fine arts museum in the same complex, but instead ended up falling asleep for 45 minutes in the orange tree courtyard between the two museums. Nobody bothered us (it was siesta time!), and Carey was awake so we didn't get our stuff stolen.

Rejuvenated by the nap, we went to the Plaza de la Corredera, ordered a pitcher of sangria, and killed time until our train. The plaza had been used as a Roman gladiator ampitheater, a bullfight stadium, and home to Inquisition executions. Now it just has a lot of touristy cafes (and sometimes concerts, apparently).

A walk, a bus, a train ride, and another bus later, and we were back at our hostel in Seville - with plenty of time to get ready to go out that night.

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