Mezquita

We have come to Corboda to see the Mezquita, which has been described to us on numerous occasions as an enormous Mosque with a Cathedral built in the middle of it. It sounded too interesting to miss.
Our first cultural stop when we arrive in Cordoba is at Burger King just off the motorway. We meet Jenny and Michael here and our mission of bag delivery is complete. We have a brief chat in the car park and touch on a variety of topics including bird watching in Cape Clear! They head off on their long journey to the top of Spain leaving us chocolate and wine.
Now well stocked, we head to the old town, and have another stressful time in crazily narrow streets. It culminates in our Airbnb man guiding us to reverse down a street against an oncoming crowd of school children before we finally reach our underground car park.
The stress has been worth it because when we wander out of our apartment we are in the heart of town. A five minute walk brings us to the Mezquita. We go in through the gates into the Orange tree courtyard which is beautiful. There is a queue to get into the main building but we don’t mind, we have already decided we will be visiting tomorrow morning - it’s free entry before 9.30 mass.
We see walk around the outside and see the Mezquita’s beautiful entrance doors. We walk on and see the Roman Bridge, the Jewish quarter and some of the many patios or courtyards for which Corboda is famous. We end up at a Tapas bar for drink at seven. They don’t serve food until 8 so we hang tough at our table munching on peanuts until we finally get to savour Cordoba’s famous Flamequines.
We wake early the following morning and head straight to the Mezquita; no queues, no entry fee, we are off to a great start.
We all wander around by ourselves for 20 minutes to have the time and space to just take it in. The scale and symmetry is amazing with arch upon arch made with salvaged Roman pillars.
It’s easy to imagine Muslims gathered here bowed in prayer and yet all along the perimeter walls there are alters dedicated to different Christian saints. Right in the heart of the building is the Cathedral. There is no distinct division between Mosque and Cathedral only that as you walk the style changes from repeated symmetrical designs to highly decorative opulence. The Cathedral’s high ceiling is filled with organ music when we are there. The Organist is just warming up for mass but the music gives our visit to the Mezquita a sprinkling of magic.Read more