For Your Enjoyment, Some Patios Of Cordoba

It's Not An Adventure Till The First Thing Goes Wrong -- Act One of Six

We left La Mezquita after a couple hours at lunchtime.  I suggested we walk along a river to an area we had walked through after our excellent dinner the night before.  It is, like many parts of Spain, a pedestrian-only part of the city where there are plenty of restaurants with pleasant outdoor tables.

We ordered salmorejo (Spanish soup that puts gazpacho to shame), iberian jamon (Spanish ham that puts every other kind of ham to shame), and croquettes.  We noticed partway through lunch that the waiters were turning away prospective diners (aka "money") and thought it was weird.  

Carol went into use the bathroom, but the lights didn't turn on (thank goodness for iPhone flashlights). 

Well, then Carol overheard a waiter saying to a potential customer that the restaurant was out of power, which explains why our croquettes never showed up.  We paid with cash (if you no longer carry cash, you'll regret it at some point) and left.

We walked along the river, over the Roman Bridge to go into the Calahorra Tower and see the Museum of al-Andalus Life inside it.  My main goal was to climb up to the rooftop terrace for a picturesque view across the river to see Cordoba.

The woman working there was standing just outside the door, turning people away.  She patiently explained to us that not only was the tower/museum out of power, but so was all of Cordoba.  Not only was all of Cordoba out of power, but so was all of Spain.  And Portugal.  And France.  And Germany.  All of Europe.  Was. Out. Of. Power.  

We were surprised.  So I came up with Plan B.

A Top Tenner -- La Mezquita

La Mezquita is one of the most stunning buildings we've ever seen in the world.  To me, it's a top 10 on a list that include Sagrada Familia, Angkor Wat, Alhambra, the Terracota Warriors, Abu Simbel, Bagan, Westminster Abbey, Sainte-Chappelle, Machu Picchu, the Milan Duomo, the Great Wall of China, Mont Saint Michel, and Scrovegni Chapel. 

(I reserve the right to add some building I forgot, but this is a pretty darn good start).

(Editor: There's more than ten on your Top Ten list.  Writer: Who are you, David Letterman?  You've seen them all, which one would you boot off?  Editor: Fair points.  Writer: The readers should know they are not listed in order of favorites, just what came to mind.)

So when we got to the entrance for the 10am opening to have our tickets scanned, and I was told that they weren't the right tickets, I panicked.  It turns out that when you book, the agent of the Mezquita sends you an email with a QR code and instructions that they would send another email with less than 24 hours before the timed ticket with a QR code that actually is the ticket (so there's ZERO point to the QR code -- I'm roasting that company when I get around to it).  

Well, they didn't send the email.  So Carol took over, WhatsApp'd them, and voila, tickets appeared.  I think I would have cried had we not been able to get in.  

(Turns out the same company also handled it for Alhambra, but the email they sent when I ordered those tickets had the QR code that served as our tickets, so they have two totally different procedures for those two UNESCO World Heritage Sites.)

(Have I ever mentioned that "'UNESCO means 'You must go!'"  Editor, both drily and sarcastically: Yup.  At least once or twice.)

Built in the 10th century, it is a former mosque with a 16th century tucked into it.  It's a wonder of the medieval world, and is in incredible shape.  It's absolutely stunning.  Don't rely on the photos -- you have to see it with your own eyes to be moved by it.

I'm not going to wax eloquently about it on and on (Editor: Too late!), but just go and let me know what you think.

The Cathedral is beautiful, but it does not hold a candle to the Mosque.  The Mosque is massive -- more than 20,000 people could pray there at the same time.  

You'll note in the blog post that follows that there is only one photo from the Cathedral (pictures of lion sculptures and live lions are always going to make my blog) because I want the story to be about the beauty of the mosque.

One cool part about the building within a building, behind the cathedral altar, there is Gothic vaulting mixed within Moorish arches -- which does not exist anywhere else in the world.

Photos From La Mezquita

To both Carol and I, this mosque/cathedral is one of the most impressive and stunning buildings we have ever seen.  We were gobsmacked in 2001 when we first saw it, and also the other times since.

You have no idea how much discipline it took me to only post 16 photos:

One of the keyhole arch entries.

The alternating red brick and white stone

double arches are stunning to see.  Even

more so when you realize there are more

than 800 double arches. 

Visigothic ruins from the Christian

church that was on the site before

the Islamic conquest.  This is from

the Sixth century, but you knew

that just from looking at these ruins.

The arches appear to extend

as far as the eye can see.

Representing the starry sky, this dome

was part of the Mosque's Mihrab,

Islam's equivalent of a high altar.

Moorish decorative work above the

niche of the Mihrab.  We are all blessed

that after the Reconquista of Cordoba,

in 1236, the Christians decided not to

tear down the Mosque, but instead built

the Cathedral within the existing mosque.

The lion is part of the

Cathedral, as animals

and humans are not part

of Muslim art.

Panoramic photo of the doors

on the east side of La Mezquita.

Alas the blog program doesn't

show the photo at a larger length.

A view of the Mezquita

from across the river.

That Cordoba Walk Was So Great, I Needed To Do It Again. And A Story. . .

After my solo walk, I went back to the apartment.  Carol woke up groggily and we ended up doing the same walk all over again, because it really is the greatest hits of Cordoba.

These photos below are random shots from Cordoba that don't go with any blog post, but are still worth including, so here they are:

The Roman Bridge at night.  (Editor:

No kidding it's at night!)

First day lunch -- Tinto de

Verona for Carol, cerveza

for me.

The obligatory Bell Tower

selfie, this time for two.

The Renaissance Arch of Cordoba.

Also at night (sticks tongue out

at editor!).  

"That does not look like an arch,"

our writer notes, archly.

The actual name is the Puerto del Puente (Bridge Gate).  I suppose it's not a high crime and misdemeanor like Watergate, but the research I did on Cordoba, it was referred to as an arch, not as Bridge Gate.  I suppose from now on I won't refer to it as an arch, but as a gate.

Anyhow, this gate actually replaced a Moorish gate, which replaced a Roman gate that existed at or before the time of Julius Caesar (it was mentioned before he was killed on the Ides of March, so I'm not just taking a stab at the history of it.)

How's this for a night picture

of the Bell Tower?

Quick story before I go on to the next post. . .our first trip to Spain, and first trip overseas with our daughters, was in April 2001, during Semana Santa (IYKYK, if you don't Google it).  After Sevilla, we came to Cordoba.  

After dinner on night, Carol was putting our daughters to bed (they were 8, 6, and 3 at the time.  They are older than that now), so I went to find the internet cafe to check my email.  There was no hotel WiFi or personal MiFi at the time.

So I sat at a terminal that looked like it had just been repurposed from being a Pac-Man game, pumping peseta coins into it for time.

On the way back to the hotel, I came across a night procession of one of the brotherhoods.  There were men on horseback, blowing trumpets, torches carried by the marchers in the brotherhood.  It was pretty stirring and amazing.  Back in our room, I said to Carol, "Bad news, I just joined the Crusades!"

Well, five months later, September 11th happened.  Eerie timing. 

Grand Driving Tour of Spain -- 2025 Edition (Cordoba to Start)

In 2023, Carol and I visited Madrid, Toledo, El Escorial, Avila, Salamanca, Zamora, Astorga, Vallllodid, Medina del Campo, Ribera del Duero wine country, Segovia, Villalba del Sierra, Ciudad Encanta, Cuenca, Ventana del Diablo, Albarracin, and Valencia.

We decided we've given short shrift to the Southwest of Spain, and, since we would be close to our favorite region of Spain, Andalusia, we would go there as well.

So we are off on a 17 day Grand Driving Tour of Spain.  Being a grand driving tour, we naturally started with a train ride -- just like in 2023.  We flew into Madrid, taxied to the train station, and caught an early train to Cordoba.

As on many trips, if we are staying more than one night in a city/town, we book a VRBO, but if we are spending just one night, we book a hotel room

After we got into our VRBO, Caro was feeling hammered by jet lag.  I decided to talk a walk.  I got lucky, booking an apartment very close to the main attraction of Cordoba, La Mezquita (more on that in a later post).  We were in the Jewish quarter, which is a delightful jumble of medieval alleys and streets.

My first stop was the iconic Calle de las Flores, a narrow pedestrian street with lots of flower baskets that, with the Mezquita's Bell Tower as a backdrop, provides one of the best photos in Cordoba.

It's a short stroll from the Calle de las Flores to the Mezquita.  The Patio de los Naranjos (Patio of the Oranges) is a massive courtyard that is open and free to enter.  I wandered around the patio, people watching and taking in the beautiful carvings, panels, and beams from the 10th century.  The main attraction is the former minaret that is a Bell Tower, built overtop the minaret around 1600.

From there I went out the other side of the Patio, along the massive wall with some stunning Moorish doors. 

I went down to the Renaissance arch by the Roman bridge.  Oddly, I don't remember the big arch from my previous two trips to Cordoba (2001, 2016), but I crossed over the Roman bridge, vowing to come back to the Calahorra Tower with Carol after our next day's visit to the Mezquita.

I then wandered up to the Jewish Quarter, which is a name for the best parts of Cordoba to wander, passed the Synagogue (closed by the time I got there), wandered through the historic Almodovar Gate, and around the city walls, taking in the statues to some of Cordoba's most important citizens.

I was pretty happy -- wandering around in one of my favorite cities, looking forward to what was to come in the next few days (foreshadowing!). 

Well, every so often, the blog program flips the order of the photos that I want to post. . .as it did with this.  When that happens, putting them in the right order is extremely time consuming, so I don't take the time to do so.  So here are pictures of my afternoon walk. . .just imagine I did it backwards from how I actually walked.

The original city walls and water

feature just outside the Puerta de

Almodovar, the best preserved

of the seven original city gates.

And the aforementioned Puerta de Almodovar.

Seneca, one of the three

statues of great Cordobians. 

The Roman bridge.  The foundations

are original, from the first century.

   The arches are from the 16th century.

The Calahorra Tower, a fortified gate

built in the 14th century to protect

the city from the Moors to the south.

A statue on the Roman bridge, and

a look back at La Mezquita.

The best picture I've ever taken of

a black-crowned night heron. Also

the only picture I've taken of one.

The Moorish arches on the outside

of the Mezquita are as stunning

the arches on the inside. 

Quite the door.

The Bell Tower was built

over the remains of the

original Muslim minaret.

The Patio de los Naranjos,

with the Bell Tower.

A Muslim "keyhole"

entrance into La Mezquita.

The top of the Mezquita from

the Patio of the oranges.

The Bell Tower taken from

the Calle de las Flores.

Iconic.

Dog in the tiny plaza off the 

Calle de las Flores.

And one more picture from

the street of flowers for

good meaure!

A random photo in a city, region, and

country that has a huge number

of fountains.   Not all are historical,

but all are enjoyable.