Even for hardcore eaters like us, the most important thing about a trip to Córdoba is a visit to the Mezquita. (But we ate plenty too!) Here are our suggestions for what to do if, like us, you can take only a short trip to Córdoba.
Mezquita: the Mosque-Cathedral
This spectacular edifice is a monument to religion. The only question is, which one? In the middle of the 6th century CE it housed a Visigoth basilica. As the city became more Muslim, worship was shared, and in the eighth century, Abd al-Rahman I built the first mosque on the same location as the basilica.
Various successors (some with the same name) expanded it, including adding the spectacular red-and-white striped double archways. After the Reconquista, in the early 13th century, Catholics converted it to a cathedral. And in the 16th century, they built a Renaissance-style cathedral right in the middle of the mosque, while retaining the rest of the mosque around it. The whole is enormous, and the majority of it was once open to the elements.
Honestly, you could spend all day here, oohing and aahing at the architecture. But aren’t you getting a little hungry?
The Food of Córdoba
Our old friend salmorejo comes from Córdoba, and you can bet your bottom dollar we ate it here. We also tried flamenquin, which is pork, ham and cheese, rolled up and fried. (We had a similar thing in Perast, a palačinke, and liked that one a little better). And we tried mazamorra, the cold almond soup/dip garnished with fruit. This was absolutely spectacular, like the food equivalent of the Mezquita. (It rivals our love for salmorejo, and honestly it would be hard to choose between the two.) And we ate all of these lovely things at an old traditional restaurant, the Caballo Rosso, right near the Mezquita.
Jewish Córdoba
Córdoba’s Jewish quarter is beautiful, and well preserved, and houses one of three Medieval synagogues in Spain (above), as well as the Sepharad museum (below).
At around the turn of the millennium, Córdoba was the largest and, very possibly, most lively city in Europe, with a population of half a million people of different faiths. It, along with other Arabic cities, helped preserve the Greek and Latin classics. And Laurel’s childhood hero Maimonides, aka the Rambam, was born here in 1138. (We’ve also been to his gravesite in Tiberias in Israel, but that’s another story.)
Other
There is no shortage of wonderful things to see in this town. The Roman Bridge, though largely rebuilt, is still lovely to walk across on a sunny day. The Museum de las Bellas Artes houses some wonderful things, including a hoard of square (!) dirhams from the Arab period. It’s built over a Roman theatre, which you can walk around in.
The Palacio de Viana is a stunning place to hang out for a bit, soaking up all of the flowers and beautiful courtyards. And the Pasaje des Flores is lovely, with pots hung with flowers along the walls. We saw these flowered walls everywhere in Córdoba : they really class up a city!
There is our (very long) day in Córdoba. We hope you get there soon too!
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