The Odyssey: Córdoba, Spain

Madrid's High-Speed Rail Terminal

We landed at the airport in Madrid in mid-February, donned our backpacks and took the shuttle-bus to the inter-city rail terminal.

From Madrid, in the middle of Spain, we rode the high-speed train four hours south to Córdoba, the capital of Roman and Islamic Iberia, in the southernmost province of Andalusia. We spent much of our time during our month in Spain visiting the major cities of Andalusia: Córdoba, Sevilla and Granada, each with a Jewish connection.

From the train, we saw olive trees from horizon to horizon.
Spain is the world's leading producer of olive oil.
Andalusia produces most of Spain's olives.

Córdoba, Spain

A thousand years ago Córdoba was known as a city of intellectual giants in which Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars worked together.

Statue of Maimonides in La Judería

Maimonides, the 12th-century Jewish philosopher know by the acronym Rambam, was born here. Maimonides left Córdoba under the threat of death for not abandoning Judaism after conservative Islamists gained power and required non-Muslims to convert to Islam. A few centuries later the Catholic Monarchs (Fernando & Isabella) came to power and made a similar requirement for non-Catholics.

TheAlmohads put the Golden Age of Spain into a coffin and Isabella nailed it shut.

Although he left Spain as a young man and earned his reputation in North Africa, Maimonides is honored by having his name attached to a variety of Spanish institutions.

Córdoba is a modern city with a medieval section within the ancient Roman wall (above). The medieval section is the largest of any city and is the largest urban UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The streets in the medieval section are narrow and winding, but it is here that the history of Córdoba is literally written in and on stone.

Not having a car, we took a hotel in La Judería, the historic Jewish Quarter within the ancient city walls. We did not require public transit for our stay in Córdoba except for the short taxi ride to and from the train station.

The streets were so narrow that my GPS had a hard time finding where I was.

There are many colorful courtyards and open plazas.

Roman Cordoba

Signs of ancient Roman Córdoba are seen around the city.

Roman Bridge

Roman Columns

The Mezquita

The Mezquita ('mosque' in Arabic) (above right), was started in 600 as a church, but after the conquest of the region by Muslims from North Africa (711) it was completed as the world's largest mosque, which held 20,000 worshipers. Following the Reconquest of Córdoba by the Christian kings in 1236, a cathedral was built right inside the middle of the mosque. Even the Christian king at the time of the cathedral's building said that it messed up the beauty and grandeur of the building.

Some of the hundreds of double-arched columns

The oil lamps have now been electrified

The cathedral

The building now has both Muslim and Christian features, but today is solely Christian in function. The Muslim community has asked for permission to pray here but has been denied.

Muslim mihrab (left)

Christian chapel (right)

The bell tower encloses the minaret.

The Alcazar of the Christian Kings

Built after the reconquest, the Alcazar appears Moorish because it was built in the Mudéjar style by Muslim workers from Granada which held out against the Christian kings for another two centuries. In Spanish. its name is Alcazar de Los Reyes Cristianos.

It was the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition for three centuries.

Outer wall

Courtyard garden

One of the pools in the manicured gardens outside of the palace complex

The only synagogue remaining in Andalusia:

The Cordoba synagogue is one of the few synagogues which remain in Spain from pre-expulsion (1492) times. None are now active synagogues, but one in Toledo, now a Jewish museum owned and operated by the Catholic church, is used by the small Jewish community for special events, a few others remain as churches, but not in Córdoba. These few synagogues survived because their walls were plastered over and they were made into churches.

After the Reconquista, mosques were also demolished or made into churches.

Model of the Córdoba synagogue from the museum in Toledo

Bemah with Torah niches

Women's section (above Sarah)

Wall panel to right of bemah

The nearby home of a wealthy member of the medieval Jewish community is now a Jewish museum.

Many restaurants in La Judería serve traditional 'Sephardi' (the Spanish term for Jewish) foods such as the eggplant with honey on the plate above. They have the 'Jewish' without the Jews, except for the tourists who bring money. The Jews in 1492 had no money; Ferdinand and Isabella took it to pay for their wars against the Muslims, then expelled the Jews.

The food in the bowl is Raba de Toro, stewed oxtail. It is billed as a popular Andalusian dish; we ate it in several restaurants. The dish may be typical, but the preparation is not; all were good, but each was different.

We found that the hot spices that are typical of foods in the Spanish empire countries did not migrate back to Spain. The Spanish food is flavorful, but not spicy-hot. And this translates to foods served in non-Spanish restaurants, as well. Chinese and Indian foods are less spicy in Spain than in the US.

Medina Azahara

The ruins of a palace-city built by the medieval Muslims on the outskirts of Córdoba. We took a bus to visit.

This 300-acre site, the Versailles of the Middle Ages, was built to impress foreign dignitaries. It's straight streets differ from the usual Muslim cities of the time.

I am sure that the buildings looked a lot better with the facing stones and decorations.

Carnival:

Carnival, the day before Ash Wednesday, is a religious holiday which marks the last day before Lent. There are religious ceremonies and processions (above) and not-so-religious festivities (below).