Free Tour and Andalusia Day in Córdoba

Friday February 28 warmed up to a lovely 24C.  We headed out to meet our Free Tour at 10:30 a.m. at Plaza de las Tendillas.  Christina was our guide from Oway Tours.  She is originally from Hungary, moved here eight years ago to study tourism and decided to stay.  She was very knowledgeable about her adopted city.

Christina first spent some time on the history of Córdoba starting with its founding in mid 2nd century BC by the Roman Marcus Claudius Marcellus.  It grew in importance and came to be regarded as the capital of the Roman province of Hispanic Ulterior.   The Visigoths then came to Córdoba, but left very little behind.  In 711 AD, the Moors took control of Córdoba and made it the capital of a new province in the Arabic world which came to be called Al-Andalus.  Moorish Córdoba reached its zenith under Abd al Rahman III, who established a Caliphate which was independent of Damascus.  In 929, Córdoba became the most flourishing and highly populated city in Europe (about 700,000 people at its height- double the present population!).

Córdoba was known as the City of the Three Cultures-- Christian, Muslim and Jewish.  Jews had been living in Spain and Córdoba since at least the second century AD.  Persecuted by the Visigoths, they allied themselves with the Muslims following the Arab conquests.   The high point of this intercultural and religious unity took place between 936-1031, when the Caliphate was at the height of its splendour.  Unfortunately, later rulers fought among themselves and ultimately the Christians under Fernando III, recaptured Córdoba in 1236 (much earlier than either Málaga (1487) or Grenada (1492).  Initially, he established a regime where Christians, Jews and Muslims would be treated equally.  This arrangement only lasted until the end of the 13th century.

The Spanish Inquisition began in 1492 and Jews were either forced to convert or were forced into exile, many going to Morocco.  From 2014 -2019, descendants of Sephardic Jews who were exiled in 1492 were offered Spanish citizenship, without having to move back to Spain.  Over 130,000 Jews had applied by the deadline.  The deadline may be extended as Portugal has a similar law of return that came into effect in 2015 and has no deadline for application.

An incredible layered history of Córdoba.

Christina told us that Plaza de las Tendillas translates as the square of the small stores, which used be there.   There are two major shopping streets that are in the vicinity of the Square.  She told us about the statue of the Spanish general and statesman Gonzalo de Córdoba, who led the successful military campaign to reconquer Grenada in 1492.  He was known as "El Gran Capitán" (1453-1515).  His body is done in bronze and his head is white--- many stories have been circulated as to why his head is white.

Statue of Gran Capitán erected in 1923

Insurance company with statue on top of building--- one of the other buildings has a clock that strikes on the quarter hour since 1961 and is trustworthy enough that it rings in the New Year, when thousands gather in the Square.

We then walked a few hundred metres to the ruins of the Roman Temple, which dates from the 1st century AD.  The original Temple was build up high on a podium and featured free-standing Corinthian columns at the front.  Three of the columns were originals and the others were reproductions.  The marble from the original columns were still white, while the replacement material had weathered.

Christina showing us a picture of what the Temple may have looked like

All the columns

New statue of Roman founder Marcus Claudius Marcellus

We then headed over to Plaza Corredera.  Christina pointed out that the Square has the characteristics of a Castilian large square similar to those in Madrid and Salamanca, due to the architect who worked on the project between 1683 and 1687.  Two buildings were left in their original form on the southern side.  The Chief Magistrate's House and Prison (built between 1583-86) which was respected due to its artistic value, and Doña Jacinta's House, as it was called back then.  The Chief Magistrate's house became a hat factory in the 1940s and is now a market.  Doña Jacinta objected to her house being demolished to extend the square and even got Monarch Carlos II to agree with her through a royal document.

Doña Jacinta's house - different style from the rest of the Square

The Square- north and east sides

Chief Magistrate's house which was preserved

We continued our walk to the older part of the city.

Lots of narrow streets

We stopped in the Plaza del Potro which houses three museums:  The Museum of Fine Arts founded in 1844 in the former Hospital of the Charity that also houses the Museum Julio Romero de Torres, a Spanish painter who lived in Cordoba (1874-1930).  The third museum on the square houses the Flamenco Centre.

Plaza de Potro

Museum of Fine Arts and Museum Julio Romero de Torres

We continued to the beautiful Inglesia de San Francisco, founded by King Fernando III (1199/1201-1252 - called the Saint) after he reconquered Córdoba (1236) .   There were a series of 11 Churches build over mosques during the 13th century.

Entrance gate with an image of Fernando III

The Church

One can visit the other Fernando Churches

We returned later in the day and found the Church open-- baroque interior 

Out for a tour

We stopped at Hammam Al Andalusia for a small glass of mint tea.  There were once 100s of Hammams in Córdoba during the heyday of Muslim rule.

Part of our tour group at the Hammam- near the entrance

Christina pouring us some mint tea

We then went into the former Jewish quarter.  We passed the statute of Maimonides (1135-1204), the great Jewish theologian who was born in Córdoba in 1135.  He is honoured in Córdoba even though he left with his family at an early age due to persecution.  Maimonides eventually settled in Egypt.

Touching his foot brings good luck and health

Touching the book brings wisdom

Sefarad symbol (includes shapes of the maps of Portugal and Spain - letters in reverse means remember).  

Christina told us that the Sefarad symbol identifies points of interest in the Jewish quarter (Juderia).  She also noted that the streets were narrow and maze-like to defend against attacks by Christians.

Our last stop on the tour was a well preserved section of the Roman walls that used to surround the city.

After the tour, we went back to the small Synagogue which is open to the public.  The Synagogue was built during the first quarter of the 14th century in Mudejar style.  It was in use until 1492 when the Jews were expelled from Spain.  It is the only remaining Jewish synagogue in Andalusia. There is a small courtyard with the remaining walls and a staircase leading to what was the women's section.  One can only look at the decorative walls today from the main floor.

Beautifully decorated walls

Each wall (N, S, E, W) had a translation of the Hebrew

All that remains

We then stopped at ZOCO, an artisan market  (mostly jewellery) that was founded in 1960.  It is located in a two-story Mudejar-style building with a lovely porticoed courtyard.  Unfortunately, almost all the stalls were closed due to the holiday.  

Lovely typical Córdoba patio

Tile outside market

Part of the courtyard

Mural on one wall

We then went for a late lunch at Casa Pepe de la Juderia.  It opened in 1930 and has a number of rooms adorned with traditional and contemporary Córdoban art.  We ordered the two most famous soups from Córdoba--- salmorejo (cold tomato soup with olive oil, bread, Iberico Ham and egg) and Mazamorra (another cold soup with almonds, pear, garlic, bread, olive oil).   We had a hard time deciding which we liked better-- both were excellent and so different from cold soups we have had.

Outside of Casa Pepe de La Juderria

Our two soups--the soup dishes are actually very deep

One of the upstairs rooms- we ate downstairs

After lunch, we wandered some more in the former Jewish area-- full of narrow streets.

Lots of flowers and zig zagging streets.

We passed one small street named after the soup- with a recipe on the wall!

We slowly made our way back to the apartment, to put on some lighter clothes.  One street had a number of restaurants that were packed with people out celebrating Andalusia Day and enjoying the holiday.

There were some horses and carriages crossing the bridge near where we are staying.

After changing, we decided to go back to the Plaza Corredera for a drink.  We passed a number of interesting shops and also a number of beautiful courtyards.  Similar to Sevilla, there are wonderful courtyards with beautiful tiles and plants (the plants are a feature in Córdoba).

Raku ceramics with a beautiful courtyard

Lemon tree and lots of plants in the courtyard-- one could enter to look at the ceramics in a small shop

All the cafés were almost full-- we stopped for a drink in the sun

Across from the café we were at

We then headed back to the apartment at around 6:00 p.m.  We passed an incredible courtyard with arches, plants and beautiful plates displayed.  One could peer through a wrought iron gate to see the courtyard.

Beautiful plates

Plants everywhere

A final courtyard in a Hostel dating from the late 1800s

We headed back to the apartment and Alano prepared some sheep cheese on baguette appetizers.  He made a salmon steak and zucchini for dinner.  We had some more of the local red wine and dessert.  We are very glad we have returned to Córdoba.  When I checked our 2015 blog, I saw we had only spent four nights and three full days here and that we had said we wished we had spent more time here.  It truly is a beautiful city.

Córdoba has the most entries in Spain on the UNESCO World Heritage list.  The Mesquita was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 1984 and in 1994, the designation was expanded to include the surrounding streets and houses.  In 2012, the Festival of the Córdoban Patios (Courtyards) was added to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.  Due to the hot weather, the Romans originally designed their houses around a courtyard which had a fountain or well in the middle.  The Muslims readapted this design, adding a vestibule which led to the main entrance onto the street and they filled the courtyards with greenery.  That explains all the incredible courtyards we were peering into.  The Festival is held annually in May with a 3000 euro prize for the best designed patio. It is also possible to visit some of the patios outside of the festival time.

What a full day!