Romans, Jews, Moors and Christens and a world heritage sight
Early morning train from Madrid brought us to Cordoba in
about an hour. Trains are very efficient , (Unlike our flying options) never
late by more than few minutes, lots of leg room, food and beautiful scenery to
look around ( in this case rows of olive
trees all over rolling hills).
The train motion made me relax and dream about the childhood
days when we used to make our yearly two days journey to grandma’s place . We
slept on the top tier of the berth at night and during the day watched
mountains, rivers, villages go by, waving to the village kids ( who jumped up
and down laughing as we passed by) We looked forward to eating the special food
of every major station the train stopped at. ( Golab Jamun , Kachawri, Ras
Malai …just to name a few) . A had forgotten how much I loved those train
journeys till now J
Cordoba is surprising pretty town. As in any medieval town
in Europe, it comes with a Castle, Cathedral , Palace, cobble stone narrow
streets and tourists ( lots of them). What made it special are several things:
Number one is the Masjid ( Mosque) for which tour groups
stop by for few hours on the way to somewhere.
This is definitely worth more than few hours of stop over. For almost
500 years, starting in 700’s ( not accurate dates) this was the cultural, political and intelligence center of Muslim
empire. The Mosque was the biggest and grandest. It is huge but sadly not much
of that is left. The crusaders took it upon themselves to make sure to erase
all the Muslim art and replace it by chapels of various saints and icons of
Christianity. ( I find it curious to see that all the icon worshipping, all the
glitter and rituals all Jesus was preaching against was put back in within few
centuries) .
In any case, the only signs of the Mosque are the Mehrab in
the inside of the wall and few portions of outside walls. The Mosque is still
very impressive and grand.
Inside columns of the Mosque.
Example of one of many Christian Alters in the Mosque. All are equally ornate.
Mosque ceilings
Mehrab ( left over from the Mosque)
Outside walls, give an idea of the size of the Mosque
Jewish quarters, show typical spices used in traditional food. Narrow winding streets of Jewish quarters hide many treasures and museums.
Statue of Maimonides. He was raised Jewish but was a philosopher and a secular thinker. He believed that secular knowledge is necessary for human progress. Rubbing his feet is said to bring wisdom..
Cordoba has the castle dating back to 2 nd century BC. Built by Romans, it has all the castle necessities like the wall, the living areas, the courts, stables etc etc and it also has beautiful gardens
Mosaic work from Roman days
Finally a picture of all of us...
The gardens......
Cordoba flourished for over 500 years and then things went down hill with the arrival of conquistadors and inquisitions. ( the castle had chambers for inquisitions:(
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