Andalusia 2020

Monday9November

Córdoba, the last big city of our trip. Cordoba is the city in the world with the most UNESCO World Heritage sites! Starting with the 247 meters of the Roman bridge that has spanned the Guadalquivir for 11 centuries.

Facing it, the "Puerta del Puente" (the bridge gate) dating from the Renaissance.

On the bridge, a single statue watches over pedestrians. It is the Archangel Raphael dating from the 17th century.

It was created by the sculptor Bernabé Gómez del Río in 1651.

The famous mosque-cathedral, the Mezquita.

The building is not reduced to the cathedral, it extends over more than 2 hectares surrounded by enclosure walls forming a rectangle of 180 meters by 130 meters. Within these walls, the space is shared between an orange garden on one third of the surface, and 19 naves gathered under tiled roofs with the cathedral in the middle.

The Puerta San Esteban

The bell tower-minaret separated from the cathedral by the patio-orange grove.

The garden has existed since the 13th century. In the background, the Main Chapel (Capilla Mayor). This latter exceeds all the other small chapels distributed around the cathedral.

Once again, we are practically alone to visit the cathedral! We will therefore be able to wander as we please through this forest of pillars numbering 850!  

The arches in brick and white stone are superimposed in pairs, separated by an empty space. They are so numerous that it is hard to find your way around!  

Details of some chapels distributed around the Cathedral.

Some naves stand out with their large colorful frescoes.

Painting of the Archangel Saint Michael.

We arrive in the part where the Arab style is most marked. The building therefore experienced a Muslim period between the 8th and 13th centuries until June 29, 1236. Originally, the first stones were neither Catholic nor Muslim but Roman since the place was occupied by a modest temple dedicated to the God Janus. Under Visigoth occupation, the temple was replaced in the year 584 by the Basilica of Saint Vincent, itself transformed into a mosque starting in 787 by the Muslims. During the following two centuries, the mosque was enlarged to occupy the entire surface area known today.

It was King Ferdinand III of Castile who definitively took back the mosque from Muslim hands. Since June 28, 1236, the building is therefore officially a Catholic cathedral. The access doors to the prayer hall were then sealed.

The painted wooden ceilings.

Some windows look outside, notably on the column of the triumph of Saint Raphael by French architects Michel Verdiguer and Baltasar Dreveton, commissioned by the city to thank the Patron Saint of the city for saving them from the Lisbon earthquake in 1755.

The beautiful remains of Islamic architecture, notably with the vault overlooking the mihrab (sanctuary).

In the Saint Theresa chapel, the sepulcher of Cardinal Pedro de Salazar (1630-1706).

"The martyrdom of Saint Acisclus and Saint Victoria" and "The conquest of Cordoba by Fernando III the Saint" by Antonio Palomino.

In this room, an exhibition on the different master stonemasons.

In the Chapel of the Nativity, "The Tree of Jesse" (1578) by Gabriel de Rosales.

The altarpiece of Ieshu Verde and Saint Nicholas of Bari by architect Hernán Ruiz.

And below the statue of Saint Nicholas of Bari, this small painting of "The Last Supper" painted by Pedro de Campaña.

Bas-reliefs in the Chapel of the Epiphany.

On the left, painting in the chapel "Nuestra señora de la Antigua". On the right, painting on the altar of the chapel "Santa María Magdalena".

The great altarpiece of the Main Chapel (Capilla Mayor).

The vault of the choir of the main chapel.

The choir stalls imagined by Pedro Duque Cornejo in 1748.

The two organs of the main chapel.

The Dome of the Main Chapel, it is the one visible from the outside.

Some bas-reliefs on the columns of the chapel.

Last glance at one of the rows of double arches.  

And exit through the porch of the bell tower.

Stroll through the old streets of the Mezquita quarter.

The calleja de las Flores, a street often photographed. I am no exception to the rule... "It is part of the historic center of Cordoba which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. It was also chosen as the prettiest street in Spain by Tredencias magazine".  

This trip is terribly lacking in wild animals... So I fell back on this fierce panther... ;

Homage to one of the Cordovan celebrities of the 12th century: "Muhammad Ibn Qassoum Ibn Aslam Al-Ghafiqi, was an Arab-Andalusian ophthalmologist and scientist of the 12th century, known notably for his various pioneering works in the field, he is one of the first people to perform eye surgery of which we have a detailed account" © Wikipedia

Lunch at the restaurant El Churrasco with its succulent leg of lamb...  

Return of the blue sky, so return to the calleja de las Flores.  

Square of Las Tendillas with the Edificio La Unión y el Fénix.

On the right, the monument to the "Gran Capitan".

Garden of "La merced" (mercy).

Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez known as "Manolete", famous Cordovan bullfighter.

The church Santa Marina de Aguas Santas.

The Capuchin Convent.

The large Plaza de la Corredera. 113 meters long and 55 meters wide!

And back to the banks of the Guadalquivir to end the day!

Tuesday10November

Today, we leave Cordoba, but not without visiting the Alcázar! Which we will do practically alone of course!  

The Alcázar is the ancient fortress which served as residence for Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, known as the Catholic Monarchs. Its construction dates back to the 14th century.

The Hall of Mosaics.;

The Nereid Galatea and the cyclops Polyphemus (Greek mythology).

Mosaic of a "tragic actor of the Roman theater".

Head of Medusa, one of the three Gorgons in Greek mythology.

The "Patio de las Mujeres", the courtyard of women seen from the hall of mosaics.

The gardens trying to compete with the Mezquita, but on a smaller scale...

But depending on the point of view, the Alcazar has nothing to be ashamed of its orange grove.

A feline as cute as it is impassive which given its young age surely has no idea what the world before could have been...  

An alley of cypresses accompanies this basin leading to three characters in full discussion...

We are in 1492 and Ferdinand King of Aragon and Isabella Queen of Castile receive the navigator Christopher Columbus who came to request funding for his future trip to the Indies, the very one that will make him "discover" America.

Meanwhile, hidden in the cypress alley, 4 other monarchs stand guard...  

A basin and its mosaic floor.

I have the impression that the gardeners are more numerous than the visitors!  

A garden of the Alcazar with flowers refreshed by the morning dew for the greatest pleasure of my camera.

Echinacea.

Chrysanthemums.

Jasmine.

One year after the Koi carp of Japan, here I am again in front of those of Andalusia, whose red and white are not yet fashionable unlike in the land of the rising sun...  

End of visit and return to our apartment to retrieve our luggage. We leave Cordoba to reach Zuheros, a small village in the Subbeticas ranges, 70 kilometers away!