Cordoba Correspondence

It was mid-afternoon when we arrived in Córdoba and it was hot as anything. The only people about were either finishing up their long lunches or cleaning up after them.

When we emerged from a short siesta it was still very hot, but we walked down to the River Guadalquivir through the former Muslim Quarter along an endless array of narrow, winding streets and alleys.

We took a look at the Roman Bridge and the river before hydrating with a few beers and an enormous gin-and-tonic, then set off to walk back. As we did so, life returned to the streets. The bar outside our hotel, which when we arrived looked closed-down, was open and crowded. The Plaza de Las Tendillas, the main square where earlier in the day it appeared that any piece of ground not in the shade was Kryptonite, was buzzing and bustling and the inhabitants of town were out parading, eating and drinking. What a transformation!

The following morning, while it was still cool, we visited the Mezquita - officially the Mezquita-Catedral de Cordoba and since 1984 a UNESCO site. What a stunning place!

A Christian basilica in the 6th century, a mosque in 768 then finally a Catholic place of worship from 1236, the building reflects the architectural styles of its various proprietors as it was added to successively over the 1500-or-so years of its existence.

The interior was quiet and cool, and the pillars and double arches of the Moorish style seemed to go on forever. In the middle was the structure of the current Christian church, looking like it had been picked up and dropped down through the ceiling of the mosque.

We also visited the Alcazar de los Reyes Christianos - Palace of the Christian Kings, although an hour of visiting after an hour of queueing for tickets probably wasn’t a good use of our time.

The building itself wasn’t special, but the gardens, with extensive pools and fountains, were fabulous.

And then it was Friday night. If the town came to life at 8 o’clock on a Thursday night, it positively exploded on a Friday. We had another very happy dinner in the main square - the vibe was so good that even the buskers, seemingly all playing “Those Were the Days” on their violins or piano accordions, sounded pretty good.Read more