Cordoba Cathedral/Mosque

I had seen very little of Cordoba, but from my brief walk to the hotel, I knew it was going to be a beautiful city. As such, my parents walked me around some of the nicer parts of town where we saw some Roman ruins, the roman bridge, some nice gardens and courtyards, and got a sneak peak to the world famous patios of Cordoba. Eventually, though, we arrived at the main attraction. The cathedral / mosque that has existed from the 6th Century AD when the construction of the cathedral was completed. Then, the Moroccan and Muslim ruler crossed the straight of Gibraltar and converted it into a mosque for many centuries. Again, though, the Christians regained control of the region and reconverted the monument into a cathedral in the 13th century. Despite the changing of control, the building still reflected each time period, and instead of consuming the previous building, they instead expanded on it. This meant that there are clear and distinctive periods and cultural influences from the religions throughout the structure. As you enter the historical site, the main design is that of a mosque, with arches and pillars very prominent, Islamic chandeliers, and the typical detailed Islamic scripture engraved into the walls, as is seen in the alhambre. This is also reflected in the outside courtyard, that although having the orange trees that you find in a lot of monasteries, the outside structure reflects a more Islamic style. As you proceed through the structure, you find the main naive of the monument where the Christian influence takes centre stage and steps up the grandure significantly. Built during the later centuries, the large centre structure dwarfs the rest of the site, with an enourmas roof, a huge altar that expands to the ceiling, and choir stalls that lay in the background to provide the best viewing of the rest of the transept. After some time for admiration, we continued to wander around the site and eventually had completed a lap and headed for the exit. This was easily one of the more impressive cathedrals I had seen. Containing the grandure you may expect from a large Spanish cathedral, but with the unique traits you might associate with a mosque. Both styles seemed to blend in a stylistic fashion that ensured there was a clear distinction between the styles without feeling invasive or uncomfortable. As we headed out we walked around the exterior, and, much like the courtyard, the outer walls of the building are much more reflective of an Islamic style. Many of the original walls have been restored, but some remained original, and so you could see a before and after effect. After this, we headed to try some tapas. Although I have spent quite a bit of time in Spain before, because I was on my own, I never got to properly experience tapas. As such, with the family, we got a nice assortment of tapas, including squid, croquettes, potatoes, red peppers, and a collection of seafood. It was very nice and great to have a variety of Spanish dishes all at once. Once we enjoyed this and a drink, we moved on. We then continued to the famous Roman bridge that was once the main entrance to the city. This area also has a heavily restored version of the main gate. This was cool to see, but the dirty and limited water in the river made for difficulties in getting a great photo. Nonetheless, it was interesting to walk along. Our final site for the day was supposed to be the patios of Cordoba, yet when we arrived, all we found were empty streets and closed doors. It was a Saturday, but apparently, we had missed them. This was disappointing as it was one of the main attractions of Cordoba, but we had no option other than to move on. We stopped for a quick drink before continuing to one of the patios we knew was open. This was very crowded and a bit overdone, but it was on the way home, so we figured it was worth a visit. This was the end of the day and as such we then situated ourselves on the balcony, and in typical Spanish fashion, watched the world go by.Read more