The Mezquita ( Mosque Cathedral)– Islam meets Christianity
With a relatively short trip to Spain, we allocated just a day to see Cordoba, which was not long, but perhaps long enough. Staying in Seville, it is only a 50 minute express train journey to Cordoba and with a 20 minute walk to the Santa Justa train station from our apartment we caught the 0800 hours train. Tickets via Trainline and their app, was super easy.
Cordoba was quiet at 0900 when we emerged from the train station and followed our Google instructions on a 20 minute walk down to the Tourist Office where we were to meet our Tour Guide. We had opted for 2 tours, one at 10.30am to the Cordoba Alcazar (Royal Palace) & Gardens and then another at 1pm for the Mezquita itself, also referred to as the “Mosque Cathedral”.. We had the same Guide for both tours but the Guide had taken another tour in between our two, so a big days work for them. She was originally from Hungary, multi lingual and a quite excellent guide.
As we were early for the tour guide, we crossed the bridge over the River Quadalquivir and found a neat cafe for croissants, cake and coffee. The silting up of the river is very self evident , see waterwheel pic below – well above the river level – but the bridge is just magnificent.
Our Tour of the Cordoba Alcazar & Gardens, gave us a great grounding in the arrival of the Moors, their conflicts with each other, the buildings they created and how the arrival of Christianity from the north adding its own influence and the outcome that we see today. Our second tour of the Mezquita (Mosque Cathedral) showed just how magnificent that outcome would be.
Before we start our Mezquita Tour we come across a horse and carriage judging event on the avenue just outside the Alcazar. It was such a surprise and a wonderful sight, as hopefully these pics below show.
And then on to the Mezquita. The whole Mosque/Cathedral has developed in stages and its fascinating to see how the Mosque itself developed in its stages and then Cathedral superimposed into, over, above and through the Mosque – i think!! Words here cannot begin to do the Mezquita justice, and frankly neither can these pics, below. If you have been here to Cordoba and seen for yourself, you will know exactly what i mean. If you have yet to visit and are planning a European trip, then put it high on your list – perhaps just not in the middle of summer!
And that was Cordoba, a day trip, a very full day indeed, and we took the express train back to Seville at 1900 hours and found a local Tapas Bar for supper, a lovely end to an excellent day.
Travels with My Wife 