Saturday March 14 was sunny all day with a high temperature of about 23C. Alano did some market shopping in the morning, while I worked on the blog. We headed out to visit the Mezquita-Catedral, one of the three most important monuments in Spain- the other two are the Alhambra in Granada and Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which we visited.
First we passed this beautiful column in the inner courtyard of our apartment building!
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| Inner courtyard in our apartment building |
In the 8th century, the Mezquita (Great Mosque) was the crowning glory of Muslim architecture in the West. It contains an amazing labyrinth of red-and white- candy-striped Moorish arches. They are made of red brick and limestone. The Catholic Cathedral placed in its centre does not destroy the impact of this "forest" of architectural pillars. There are about 1000 of these pillars.
The Caliph of Cordoba, Abd el-Rahman I built the Mosque in 785 on the site of the former Visigoth Basilica of San Vincente, which in turn had a replaced a Roman temple. The Mosque was extended by later Arab rulers over the next two centuries. The Mosque occupies an area of 24,000 square metres.
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| The amazing arches |
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| The Hallways go on forever |
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| Another view |
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| Awesome |
The Moorish stucco and tile work is amazing.
The Mihrab has gild Koranic inscriptions and rich mosaics and was a gift from the Byzantine Emperor. This is where the faithful gathered for prayers.
The addition of Christian chapels disrupted the architectural harmony of the Mezquita. Some were added in the 12th century and were family crypts. Carlos V (1500-1558) ordered that part of the mosque be torn down to make way for the Cathedral. Apparently, he later regretted his decision, saying that "what you are building here can be found anywhere, but what you have destroyed exists nowhere." Construction of the Cathedral began in 1523 in the Gothic style, although later additions were in baroque styles and there are some Renaissance features.
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| One of Christian chapels |
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| Very ornate |
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| A wall piece |
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| Another Chapel |
There was a Treasury room. displaying beautiful examples of silver and gold artistry from Cordoba.
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| Treasury room |
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Amazing gold piece
There was a beautiful statue of San Raphael.
It is a real mashup to see the gold, ornate Catholic decorations mixed in with the Moorish arches.
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The Cathedral portion was very elaborate. However, it was bizarre to be in the maze of the candy-striped columns and then walk into the church portion.
There was a huge organ in the Cathedral.
Cathedral organ
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| Amazing ceiling and choir stalls |
We saw one area that had a portion of the Visigoth basilica (seen through the floor underground) In another section there were archeological fragments from the chapel.
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| View into remains of Visigoth chapel |
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| Fragment from chapel |
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| Additional fragments from VI and VII centuries |
There was one roped off section of the cathedral where a wedding had just taken place.
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| Post Wedding ceremony |
As we were leaving, I took this picture out a window of the Mesquite-Catedral. Lovely view of the Gate and River.
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| The view |
As we were leaving the courtyard, the wedding party was being serenaded by guitarists. They danced to the music.
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| Leaving the Mezquita-Catedral |
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| Getting down with the music |
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| First dance on the street |
We took one more photo of the Bell Tower which had been built over the minaret.
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The Bell Tower
We stopped for a bite to eat at Bar Santos just around the corner. Our landlord had told us that their tortilla (Spanish omelet) was the best in the city. It was a small place with lots of people lined up outside. The line moved fast and everyone ordered slices of tortilla for two euros each, and most ordered a bowl of salmorejo soup, in addition.
The inside of Bar Santos
The line up
Picking up our order
Sign-- founded in 1966
The giant tortillas
Eating outside on ledge with everyone
We saw the wedding couple posing for photos on a nearby ledge.
We walked down to the river to sit in the sun for a few minutes. We passed a group of guys playing guitar and goofing around. There seemed to be a number of men dressed in women's clothes- seemed like a Saturday thing.
Saturday afternoon crowds
While sitting on a bench near the river, we saw this extremely well-behaved dog. His owner must have been in a nearby restaurant. We were there for about 20 minutes and he didn't bark once.
Well-behaved dog
We walked to the Museo Julio Romero de Torres. Romero de Torres (1874-1930) was born and died in Cordoba, where he lived most of his life. His father, Rafael Romero Barros, was also a famous painter and the Director and founder of Cordoba's Museum of Fine Arts. Julio Romero de Torres was a symbolist painter who painted the beautiful women of Cordoba. When he died in 1930, his family donated his paintings to the City and the Museum opened in 1931. There have been additional donations of his works since that time.
The building, in the Plaza del Potro (Square of the Colt) was extended in 1936. It was part of an old Charity Hospital from the XVth century. There were rooms dedicated to the different periods of his work. It was a gem of a museum. It included a number of his most important works and also artifacts from his life. Cordoba, and its river, the Rio Guadalquivir, feature in many of his pictures.
The museum with facade beautifully restored
The garden with lovely orange trees
Julio Romero de Torres also painted many flamenco dancers and was famous in his later years for his erotic nudes. There were a series of Spanish stamps issued in 1965 with his portrait on them.
Conchita Triana 1924
La Argentinita 1922
Alterpiece 1919: The Death of Saint Agnes
Viva el Pelo 1928
There was a group of seven paintings entitled Poem of Cordoba. The woman on the left was entitled "Warrior Cordoba"; the middle picture was entitled "Baroque Cordoba" and the one on the right "Jewish Cordoba".
Conchita Piconera was one of his last works and a masterpiece. It was painted in 1929 and featured his muse, Maria Teresa Lopez. Cordoba's river is in the background.
Conchita Piconera 1929
After leaving the museum, we decided to go for a drink in Plaza Corredera, the Plaza near our apartment that houses the Market. In a street leading into the Plaza, we saw a group of cyclists enjoying a beer.
Another Saturday scene- groups of cyclists having a beer
Rafa, our guide from Friday's tour, had told us that Plaza Corredera was used for bullfighting, hence its name. It also was the site of many executions during the Inquisition.
Lots of cafes in the Plaza
The narrow street leading to the Plaza is where the bulls came in
We headed back to the apartment and sat outside on our patio for a while. Alano cooked a chicken dinner. Cordoba is an amazing city- layers on layers of history. The people are friendly and everyone was out on Saturday enjoying the glorious weather.
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