Córdoba: City of three religions

In two days I had the great delight of experiencing Córdoba and learning about how people of different religions lived peacefully together–except when they didn’t. Jewish, Islamic, and Christian cultures thrived here, sometimes simultaneously. Each of these three monotheistic religions has left behind an abiding cultural heritage in this beautiful city. Here’s my rundown of my visit.

TL;DR

Check out my photos.

Getting to Córdoba

Compared to my last trip, when I traveled for 48 hours to get to my starting destination, this was an incredibly easy trek.

Flight

I had a direct flight from Guadalajara to Madrid on Aeromexico. This is the only flight from Guadalajara that crosses the ocean. 

(Aeromexico’s Business Class, by the way, is the lamest of any Business Class I’ve flown. Sure it has lie-flat seating and reasonably good food, but the service was very lacking. The flight crew barely said two words to me other than during meal service. We were already taxiing before anyone offered me a beverage, which was a glass of water. I never could find the call button. I guess I’ve gotten spoiled by flying Turkish Airlines, Fiji Airways, Emirates, and EVA.)

We landed more than an hour early, or so I thought. It took nearly as long to get to the gate as the entire flight, or so it seemed. When we finally disembarked, we were still about 20 minutes earlier than our scheduled arrival time. Going through passport control was a breeze. Next I had to take a bus to the train station.

Bus and train

I’d researched this carefully. The bus started running at 6am. (Actually, it ran all night, but the train station didn’t open until 6am, so earlier buses didn’t actually go to the station.) The current time was just 4:30. So I parked myself and sat around the airport for an hour and a half.

The bus actually came at about 6:15, and we arrived at Atocha Station in about 20 minutes, bought a ticket for a train departing at 7:05, boarded, and sat for two more hours. We arrived in Córdoba at 9:00, and then it was about a 25-minute walk to my hotel.

I’d emailed the hotel the day before to let them know I’d be arriving early. I didn’t expect my room to be ready, but I asked them if it might be possible to get early check-in. When I arrived, they said I’d have to wait until 2pm for my room, but if I was interested, they had a nearby apartment that was available immediately.

So a ten-minute walk later, I got to my apartment. It was very clean and modern, and it was in the charming and quiet neighborhood of San Basilio. A quick shower and I was ready to begin to explore the city.

Some History

I don’t mean for this to be a textbook, but it’s hard to write about the things I saw in Córdoba without giving historical background.

Caliphate

In 750 the 20-year-old Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman fled the royal palace at Damascus after political rivals slaughtered his family. He spent six years in hiding in Morocco before sailing to Spain and establishing a Moorish caliphate called al-Andalus, with Córdoba as its capital.

This period is often described as a Golden Age both for Judaism and Islam. Christians, too, thrived here under Moorish rule. The Muslims were clearly in charge. No church spire could be as all as the shortest minaret, and church bells were not permitted to ring. But in the university, teaching took place in Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. There were 70 libraries, filled with translations of the works of Plato and Aristotle. 

By the end of the millenium Córdoba was the greatest city in Europe, with a population of 100,000 (three times the size of Paris). The Mezquita, or mosque, inspired awe in visitors, who marveled at its size and magnificence. It was a symbol of the stature of the Umayyads as the equals of the caliphs of Baghdad and Damascus.

Post-caliphate

But civil war topped the caliph in 1031, and al-Andalus splintered into several kingdoms. Then in 1147 the fundamentalist Almohads brought a strict version of Islam into Spain, and the best and brightest minds had to flee Córdoba. Sevilla and Granada replaced Córdoba as the center of Iberian Islam.

On June 29, 1236, Christians, led by Ferdinand III, conquered Córdoba. That morning Muslims prayed in the Mezquita for the last time and that afternoon Christians celebrated mass with a portable altar set up in the mosque. And Córdoba’s days as a political and cultural capital came to an end.

At first there was a period of religious tolerance, but in 1492 the Inquisition led to the demise–by execution or by exile–of Jews and Muslims from Spain.

Impressions

I fell in love with Córdoba during the walk to the hotel. And the more I explored over the last two days I , the deeper my love grew. Everything was within easy and pleasant walking distance, and the walks were often through narrow lanes and alleys that went every which way. Or they passed grand edifices. Or they offered grand views.

Even the sidewalks offer delights!

Experiences

I managed to pack quite a few activities into my two days in Córdoba aside from just wandering aimlessly through the city. The highlight I’ll save for last.

Museo Vivo de al-Andalus

Across the Roman Bridge is the 14th century Torre de la Calahorra, built to protect the city.

Today the Torre houses the Museo Vivo de al-Andalus (Museum of al-Andaluz Life, or Living Museum of al-Andalus). This is a small museum, just eight rooms, with exhibits that attempt to recreate the culture of Moorish Córdoba from the 9th to the 12th century. Some of it was interesting (a scale model of the Mezquita before the cathedral was added); some of it was quirky (dollhouse tableaus of life in the market, synagogue, church, mosque, university, and baths). And the view from the roof (at the top of this post) was impressive.

Sinagoga

Dating from the early 14th century, the very small synagogue was built by Mudejar craftsmen during a period of religious tolerance after the Christian conquest of 1236. It survived after the Jews were expelled in 1492 because it was repurposed, first as a church and later as a hospital and a shoemaker’s guild. Only in 1884 was its original purpose discovered when a piece of the mortared-over wall fell and revealed the Hebrew inscription underneath. The following year it was declared a national monument, and restoration followed.

Casa de Sefarad

This museum in the Jewish quarter is in a restored 14th-century home, and it does for Jewish life in Córdoba what the Museo Vivo de al-Andalus does for Muslim life, only in a far less oddball way. There’s stuff about Sephardic music (and, in fact, a short concert of Sephardic song — videos in my photo album), domestic life, holidays, religious life, and several rooms dedicated to the philosopher/physician Moses Maimonides (1135–1204), who was born in Córdoba but was forced to flee when the fundamentalist Almohads assumed power. There’s a display about the Inquisition, and an exhibit called “Books are dangerous, that’s why we burn them,” showing books banned or burned in countries around the world. Many Jewish writers are included.

Equestrian Show

While the gentleman from the hotel was walking me to the apartment, we passed the Royal Stables. He told me that they have a show that is very good, so later, when I passed by again, I bought a ticket.

The Royal Stables of Córdoba were established by Philip II in 1570, and it is here that the Andalusian Horse breed was developed. The show incorporated various forms of dressage, including riding with impressive, synchronized gaits, dancing with women in flamenco costumes, and a piece where the horses were led by their trainers on foot, rearing up on their hind legs and even jumping in place with all four legs off the ground.

I found myself disturbed by it all. I wondered how humane it can be to force horses to perform such tricks. Afterwards, I did some reading, and for the most part the internet defends this activity. Andalusian horses are highly esteemed and treated well, and the activities they perform are things horses sometimes do naturally. So the training simply encourages them to do these same “tricks” on command.

I did find a couple of websites that suggested otherwise, so I’m not sure what to make of it. But overall, while the show was entertaining, it wasn’t something that suited my tastes in entertainment.

I took a few photo and videos before someone told me they were not allowed. I did not see any signs or hear any announcements to that effect. (The videos are in my photo album.)

Food

The meals I ate in Córdoba were outstanding. I had a lunch and two dinners in the neighborhood where my apartment was located, and I was not disappointed. I tried some local specialties, all of which made my tummy very happy. Here are just three of the highlights. The rest are in my album.

Mezquita-Catedral

So many things I loved about Córdoba, but the one truly awe-inspiring experience was visiting the Mezquita-Catedral (Mosque-Cathedral). And I’ve already taken far more time than I meant to writing this post without talking about this extraordinary edifice and how it felt to walk inside. Plus I don’t think I can find the words. After visiting sixty or so countries around the world, it’s good to know I am still capable of getting weak in the knees and teary-eyed.

As I already mentioned, the mosque dates from the 8th century, built by the Umayyads, though it was expanded during the 10th century. The cathedral was built smack dab in the middle of the mosque in the 16th century. Was it a desecration? Or did it show respect to the existing structure by not demolishing it and starting over?

For me, a lowly 21st-century visitor, the overall effect defies description. In one magnificent structure is a crystalization of the contrast between Islam and Christianity. Here’s how Rick Steves describes it:

Horizontal versus vertical, intimate versus powerful, loving versus fear-inspiring, dark versus bright, simple versus elaborate, feeling close to God versus feeling small before God.

Just a few photos here, but if you haven’t looked through my photo album, now’s the time.

I don’t have to label these. You will have no difficulty recognizing which are the mosque and which are the cathedral

Next up

I’m now in Seville (or Sevilla; I’m not sure which spelling to use). I recognize I’m going to need to bite off smaller chunks of this three-month trip if I’m going to keep up with blogging. I’d really rather share as I go instead of summarizing later. So I will try to blog more often and write less.