The Iberian Jet Set (Part 8): Cordoba - the Islamic Capital of Spain

- November 29, 2016, Tuesday.

- There was a time in my life, many many years ago, when I was just starting to have a close affinity with all things Asian. It was a time when everyone was still "looking West" and I was given strange stares for being interested in "my own backyard." The West, in many history books particularly those written during the Cold War, is seen as invincible, but I have always been skeptical about this (and now more people are too.) Later on I was reading something about the flamenco dance, and it was only then that I found out that Spain and Portugal were ruled by the Moors during the Mediaeval Ages (around the 700s AD.) These Moors were people from North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and were Muslims (in short, they were Asian and Africans.) Because of the Moorish rule, Spain (atl east the majority of today's Spain and Portugal,) for a number of centuries. This Muslim territory was known as "Al-Andalus" (today's Andalusia region in Spain) and eventually a great caliphate rose from Al-Andalus - The Caliphate of Cordoba. The capital of the caliphate is the City of Cordoba. This is one of the chapters in history where Asians and Africans asserted their supremacy in early Europe, and another chapter being the Ottoman Empire of Turkey that asserted its power in southeast Europe centuries later.

- Today the City of Cordoba is the capital of the Province of Cordoba, with the province being one of the many southern-Spanish provinces that make up the region Andalusia. The regional capital is Seville/Sevilla. However, as Cordoba left a greater impression on me, I knew that I just had to go to Cordoba during this rare trip to Spain; one particular landmark being the Mezquita with its iconic moorish arches. Had I more time, I would've gone to Seville to, and other Spanish provinces/cities.

- On the early morning of Tuesday, I took the Renfe AVE train (high-speed train) from Madrid's Puerta de Atocha metro/train station to Cordoba. The trip took around two hours since Cordoba was far south of Madrid. I had pre-booked my ticket through the Renfe website around a month prior to the trip, since seats may run out quickly. Riding a long distance train from Madrid to wherever can be tricky, because Madrid has two main train hubs. The first one, which I mentioned, is the Puerta de Atocha Train Station, and is towards the southern side of Madrid. The other one is the Chamartin Train Station at the far northern side of the city. The train ticket will indicate which station one needs to catch the train, or else, in the event of a mix-up, going from Puerta de Atocha to Chamartin (or vice versa) will be a long trip by car or by metro. Speaking of metro, both these stations have metro stations so they're quite accessibe. Another thing to remember is that boarding gates to the trains close two minutes before the trip, but it is highly encouraged to be there early, since there are some airporrt-style security checks being done before going to the platform.    

High-speed trains.

- I reached Cordoba around 9am, and walked all the way to the historic center of the city. It was a long 20-minute walk, and while walking I kept telling myself that I should have gotten a cab to the downtown instead especially since I was already sweating even if it was around 9-10 degrees celcius. (I sweat a lot, which is why I dress lightly even during the cold; just imagine how much I'd sweat if it were hot.) Well, walking was a good way to familiaze myself with the city. The first thing I noticed was that the streets of Cordoba City were lined with orange trees, giving the city a faint natural fragrance. (Some people would just pick oranges from the trees and eat them!!)

- On the way to the main landmarks from the train station, I visited the Jewish Quarters (Juderia.) The Jewish Quarter of Cordoba is one of the many Jewish quarters in Spain, and one of the many more in the world. In Cordoba, the Jewish stayed there around the 9th century until the Jewish explusion in the 1400s. The Jews were expelled from Spain through a royal decree in the 1400s to ensure that the Jews won't influence the Jews-turned-Catholics in Spain. The Jews were given a choice of converting, going away, or being killed.

Walls outside the Jurderia.

This reminds me a lot of Vigan City.

- Today, the Juderia is a well-preserved enclave in Cordoba, and to know more about the Jewish community that once flourished in Spain, there are two main landmarks that are right beside each other. First is the Cordoba Synagogue, built in the 1300s and later turned into a church. Second is Casa de Sefarad or "House of Sefarad;" it is a house restored to look like a 14th century Jewish house that tells the story/history of the Jews in Spain.

Inside the synagogue.

Only a part of the synagogue is well preserved.

Hanukkah menorah.

It looks simple outside.

Hebrew; a verse from the Torah.

Waiting for Casa de Sefarad to open.

Jewish clothes can be quite detailed; they don't always look plain as most people think.

Jewish paraphernalia.

Star of David.

The courtyard from the second floor.

Torah.

At the courtyard (and looking for the restroom.)

Hand of Fatimah/Hand of Miriam.

Plenty of hands.

Along the Juderia, on the ay to the Alcazar. This is Ben Maimonides, a celebrated Jewish philosopher and theologian.

- Going through the Juderia and going out of the ancient enclave wall, I immediately found the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos. Also known as "Alcazar de Cordoba," this castle-fort's origins date back to the Visigoth era, but the current building was built in the 1300s. Even more surprising was that this building was built not by the Moors, but the Spanish Alfonso XI. He however, ordered the alcazat to be built in the moorish style.

Mosaic inside one of the main halls.

Main hall; there some students on their field trip.

A climb to the tower.

The other tower.

One of the towers from the gardens of the alcazar.

Suddenly thought of Princess Diaries and Princess Mia's foot-poppin' kiss.

Statue of Alfonso XI; he is known as the wise king.

- A block away from the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos is none other than the Mezquita, also known as the Great Mosque of Cordoba, or the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. The original Visigoth temple was turned into a mosque during the Moorish conquest. After the Spanish took over the Iberian Peninsula once more, the mosque was turned into a church, and it is still one until today. The Mezquita is known for its seemingly infinite rows of red-and-white double arches that meet in colums that support the roof of the whole mosque-cathedral.

The tower in the Mezquita compound.

Hypnotic arches.

With my keffiyeh. Realized later on that I brought the perfect keffiyeh - it matched the colors of the arches.

Cathedral organ.

Ceilings that look like they're designed with caramel syrup.

The bigger arches look more floral.

Strained glass windows.

Golden Gate of Mihrab. It was supposed to point Muslims to the direction of Mecca.

Ceiling details inside the Mezquita.

reminded me of the windows in Mughal-era buildings in India.

Mother and child.

One of the gates outside the Mezquita.

- After spending much time inside the Mezquita (after all, when will I be back right?) I had a quick lunch at a small cafe behind the Mezquita. I needed a light but filling lunch so I wouldn't go hungry, but at the same time, not look for the toilet every 5 minutes. When I was good to go, I went around the Mesquita to see and go across the Roman bridge; it is a bridge built by the Romans around 1st century BC. At the end of the bridge is the Calahorra Tower that is also known as the Museum of Al-Andalus Life. This tower was built initially in the 12th century, with restorations and additions to the tower up until the 13th century.

Reminded me a bit of the strees of Mykonos in Greece (click here to see.)

Roman Bridge.

This view of called the "Sotos de la Albolafia."

Calahorra Tower.

Carpet inside the museum.

Moorish instruments.

A scale model of the Mezquita. The height from the floor to the ceiling is probably as tall as my hand is wide.

- From from tower, I walked back and went up north, passing by Calleja de las Fores, a flower-lined alley leading to a plaza. However, it did not have as much flowers when I was there. Going straight up, I reached the Cordoba Archaeological Museum. The museum is located within Plaza de Jeronimo Paez.

At the main plaza facing the Roman Bridge.

Calleja de las Flores.

Inside the Cordoba Archaeological Museum.

Lion statue from the Iberian Era.

The basement of the museum is an old Roman theater!!

Part of the old theater.

This should be self explanatory.

- Further up north is the 16th-century Plaza el Potro (where Miguel de Cervantes stayed during one of his travels, and a plaza also mentioned in Cervantes' Don Quixote,) the 17th-centruy Plaza de la Corredera (resembling Madrid's Plaza Mayor, click here to see,) and the ruins of the 1st-century Roman Temple of Cordoba.

In short, Miguel de Cervantes was here.

Monument for Archangel Raphael.

Plaza del Potro.

Mercado de la Corredera.

Plaza de la Corredera.

Old Roman temple.

Cats!!

- My supposed last stop for Cordoba was the Viana Palace, a unique residence with four distinct groups of owners since the late 1400s until the 1980s. Thei nterior of the palace can only be visited through a guided tour, but I was told by the information center that the guided tours were only conducted in Spanish, and only during specific times of the day. However, the most well-known feature of the palace - its countless patios - can be visited even without a guided tour. Judging from the photos I've seen online of the palace interior, the palace is quite well-preserved. I also saw parts of the palace through the windows, and even though I didn't see some of the main rooms, those that I saw did give me an idea of the hominess of the palace. Maybe if I'll have the chance to go back to Cordoba, I might consider spending more time inside the palace and join the tour even though it's in Spanish. (Well, come to think of it, I may actually understand the tour.)

This reminds me a lot of Vigan as well.

Viana Palace.

There are patios all around the palace.

One of the biggest patios, and the best one because it had clean restrooms and a vending machine outside the restrooms.

This is one of my favorites. The Mother Mary statue is inside the trees that form a dome. It's sort of like a hidden hideout with a magical treasure that the trees are protecting.

The main patio with the palm tree, the usual mage associated with the Viana Palace.

- Seeing that I had some time before my 5pm train back to Madrid, I decided to visit another important landmark located just outside Cordoba City but still within the Cordoba Province - the Medina Azahat (also spelled as Medinat Al-Zahara,) and the actual center and seat of power of the Cordoba Caliphate. The walled city was built in the 900s AD by Abd Al-Rahman III, the caliph or political leader of the Cordoba Caliphate. Abd Al-Rahman III is known as the greatest king of the history of Al-Andalus. Centuries after Al-Rahman's rule, the people of Cordoba had a revolt, and ended up looting the palace and burning the whole city. The ruins today are probably just 10% of the original.

- Despite the rich history of the Medina Al-Zahara, it was not on my priority list not only because of its distance away from the city, but also because it was incredibly difficult to go this place by public transportation. Fortunately, I was able to find a taxi with a moderately chatty driver who was able to guess that I taught history in school, which, according to him, he had an instinct based on my manner of speaking (which was weird and entertaining at the same time because all we did was small talk about my experiences in Spain.) The taxi ride to the Medina Azahara was around 15 minutes with mid-day regular traffic. Not bad. The driver told me that he could not drive me all the way to the ruins (which was far from the museum) because the tickets to the ruins should be bought in the museum. My driver, Manuel, gave me his mobile number so I can contact him when I was ready to go back to the city proper. (Thank God I had my roaming on, and thankfully Manuel gave me his number, because there are no cabs passing by that area as the museum is located in the middle of nowhere and I wouldn't have known how to go back to the city from there.)

On the way to get a cab. Whatttttttt is thissssss. A Spanish movie about Philippine history (which is sort of the Spanish version of the Filipino movie "Baler.") I wasn't able to watch the movie in Spain though; I had left Spain when the movie showed.

- I went around the small museum with some artifacts from the Medina Azahara, and what I liked most was the sneak peak of the museum archive of yet-to-be-sorted/exhibited artifacts. After hastily goind around the museum, I went to the bus stop right in front of the museum; I had to budget my time since the bus only comes once every twenty minutes, and I had a train to catch back to Madrid. I paid for my round trip tickets from the bus driver and off I went to see the ruins. The bus only has two stops: the museum and the ruins. I arrived at the ruins, and explored as much as I could. The greater half of the ruins which includes the famed Salon Rico (Rich Hall) or Salon Abd Al-Rahman is currently under major restorations, so as of the time I went there, it was still inaccessble (and all the more reason for me to go back to Cordoba in the future.)

Rooms with unsorted artifacts.

Hello dog!! You're guarding the ruins really well.

Upper Basilical Hall.

The Portico.

Where the ruins meet nature.

House of Ya'far.

Sloping down the plains.

Moorish-style design, found on the stairs.

The early Iberians would use anything as building materials, from recycled columns and bricks to seashells.

About to leave.

- I caught the bus back and thankfully my mobile signal was working (it stopped working for a while so I got worried.) Manuel came a few minutes later to fetch me and drive me all the way to the Cordoba Train Station.) I had more than enough time to have a snack and rest before riding my train back to Madrd. Though I wanted to wipe the smile off my face for finally being able to visit one item of my travel bucket list, Cordoba (particularly the Mezquita,) I was so tired that I slept through the train ride until the Renfre AVE train almost reached Madrid's Puerta de Atocha Station.

'Til I see you again, Cordoba.

At Madrid's Puerta de Atocha Station. Barbie, is that you??

- I went back to Madrid at around dinner, and did a bit of shopping along Gran Via before having a nice dinner. I was in a hurry to go back to my nearby hostel, fix my things, and rest for day 2 of my three-day-day-trip series. Well, at least, the next two day trips were closer to Madrid compared to Cordoba. My next stop was the city of suckling pigs and the great aqueduct - Segovia!! (Please don't forget to read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here  Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 7 here, Part 9 here, Part 10 here, and Part 11 here!!)