Cordoba, Spain

This is our 4th trip to Andalusia, but our first time in Cordoba. Not sure why we waited so long to visit here. We really enjoyed our week. Cordoba was a very important city during many parts of Spain’s history and the old town still reflects that. There are so many small pedestrian streets and alleys that create a huge maze of medieval history. We stayed on the edge of old town in this Airbnb which allowed us to easily visit the tourist parts of town but also be close to restaurants and grocery stores that the locals frequent. We really enjoyed our “free” walking tour on the first day as well as just wandering around by ourselves all week.

Cordoba’s most famous attraction is the Cordoba Mezquita which is the Mosque/Cathedral that is a UNESCO heritage site. This is one of those religious buildings that is really a must see. It is huge. There are stunning 11th century red and white arches from its time as a mosque and in the middle they built a cathedral in the 15th century. One of those visits where it is easy to take way too many pictures. It should be on every list of the most amazing religious buildings in the world.

There is also another UNESCO site near Cordoba. About 5 miles away are the ruins of Medina Azahara, a fortified palace-city built in the 10th century by the Caliphate of Cordoba. The city was only in use for about 70 years before a civil war destroyed it. Our 4-hour bus tour first took us to the visitor center to watch a movie showing what it would have looked like during the 10th century. We then walked around the ruins while our tour guide told stories about how powerful the city was at the time. The ruins weren’t super impressive but the combination of the film and a tour guide made the place very interesting. It is also nice to hear stories of the Islamic period of Europe instead of the usual history told from the Christian perspective.

We had a whole week in Cordoba, but the essential tourist sites only took us 2 days to see. We had a lot of time to wander around and get an idea of the real Cordoba. We visited some small museums including an archeology museum, a Jewish museum, a couple art museums, and a patio museum which was a bunch of courtyard gardens linked together. Cordoba also has an old Roman bridge, an Alcazar (castle/palace), the old city walls, and a lot of gardens and parks to wander around. One day we wandered into a courtyard to find an Argentinian festival. There are a lot of Argentinian expats now living in Spain and they really know how to have fun. We stayed for a drink and an empanada and listened to Argentinian music. We love getting surprised by festivals. On the way home we walked by the Mezquita where the streets were filled with people waiting to see a parade. The church has many floats of the days of Christ that they carry around the streets in processions. We stayed to watch one procession and then later, we saw another procession with a huge band go by our apartment which was almost a mile away from the church. Another fun surprise of culture.

As I said before, this is our 4th trip to the Southern part of Spain known as Andalucía. We obviously love it here and keep coming back. We keep finding towns we haven’t explored and there will be more left to find after this trip. Next up is one more big Andalucian town for this year- Malaga!!!!