After the small city of Toledo, the next stop of Susan’s Safari in Southern Spain was Cordoba. Cordoba is a much larger city, and like most large cities with a long history, there’s a modern part and a historic/tourist part.
What I saw in Cordoba:
- Catedral de Cordoba -- my favorite!
- Castille de Almodovar (outside of the city)
- Medina Azahara -- palacial city of the ruling Muslims at the time (Umayyad dynasty)
There were many more things to see, but these three were the ones that were part of the seminar.
My favorite site of the entire Azahar seminar was the Catedral de Cordoba. When you first enter the place, you immediately think it’s a mosque, complete with a minaret (a tower where a person would call others to pray 5 times a day) and a courtyard. The Catedral has a long history – it was first a Roman temple, then transformed into a small Visigothic church, then turned into a Muslim mosque, and after some expansions, it finally became the cathedral that we see today. The building was used as a representation of whoever was in power at the time. So, the power transferred from the Romans, to the Visigoths, to the Muslims, and finally to the Christians, although one wouldn’t say that the Christians are “in power” right now in Cordoba.
The Catedral looks completely like a mosque, from the exterior, courtyard, and the entrance, but as you walk deeper into the building, it transforms from a darkly lit mosque with a qibla wall (the Muslims’ praying wall) to a bright white gothic cathedral, complete with an altar and a bishop's chair. It’s fascinating how the different religions co-existed in one physical space, even tolerating one another at some points in history (the qibla wall, pictured below, and a ceiling mosiac were given to the Islamic emir as gifts from the Catholic king of Constantinople).
Pictures don't do justice...
The designs of the Christian cathedral overlapping with the designs from the Muslim mosque.
The Catedral is the big brown thing in the back (that was one dirty river beneath me).
Medina Azahara was a city built by the caliphate (Muslim leader) at the height of the Islamic empire in southern Spain. Unfortunately, the building was destroyed shortly after it was completed. Here I am standing in the throne room of the sultan. Amazingly, only 90% of the city has been uncovered. The rest of the city is buried or was completely destroyed when the opposing Muslim faction (more fundamentalists than the ruling Muslim family) invaded southern Spain.
Cordoba displayed much evidence of the Muslim presence, especially in the architecture. There was also a Jewish quarter, but the synagogue was closed when I went to visit :(
A little outside of Cordoba, we visited a castle. The castle (belonged to a French family) was not the Disney princess castle - in fact, far from it. It was not the prettiest building (used for defense and housing smelly men from the Middle Ages), but definitely imposing. After all, you have to snap your neck back to see the whole thing if you're at the bottom of the hill.
Cordoba was beautiful, and you could really feel the co-existence of three religions in one place. I'd love to go back!
Susan
PS Go to facebook to see more of my pictures - it takes too long to upload pictures plus I'm lazy.
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