4/30/22 Visit Cordoba, Sail to Portugal

Today we drove to Cordoba, about 2 hours away, primarily to explore a very odd building -- first a huge mosque and then converted into two separate cathedrals. It was originally built by the Moors in the late 700s and they added on to it three times. The estimate is that it could have held 30,000 worshipers. After the re-conquest in 1236, the odd thing happened: the conquerors did not destroy the mosque, they repurposed it, added a number of apses with Christian themes and created a cathedral inside of it. Later, in the 16th century, a larger cathedral was created in the middle of the former mosque. This involved removing a number of supporting pillars to create the nave and transept. The architects assumed that they were safer removing these supports from the middle and the building did not collapse. The mosque minaret which had been converted to a bell tower underwent major renovations around this time too.

There was also a wall around the city and a Jewish quarter. In several places, the Jewish quarter is denoted by a series of four Hebrew characters formed in the shape of the Iberian Peninsula. We entered through the Jewish quarter to arrive at the mosque/cathedral.

The bronze characters here are in the
shape of the Iberian Peninsula

These next 3 photos are of the outer wall.

Above and below: part of a patio, referenced below a
few other photos and the entrance to the patio. The blog
software sometimes has a mind of its own on photo
placement and I have learned that this version does
not nicely tolerate dragging photos to their proper
locations.

This is museum to the Sephardic Jews who
were driven out during the Inquisition. Spain
has now offered those who can trace their
Sephardic origins the right to re-enter the
country to live here.

We also explore a 'patio', which we would
call a Courtyard. There is a contest every
year to see who has the prettiest patio. The
flower pots on the back wall started
appearing as a way to fill in the cracks that
inevitably appear in the walls.

This is a monument to Maimonides, an
eminent middle ages scholar, born in
Cordoba, who became a personal
physician to Saladin.

The traditional rabbit fur hat of the
Cordobans

The current bell tower/former minaret

Several of the original cedar cross beams
used in building the cathedral

The space is enormous, more than you can tell from
photos.

The columns were connected with double arches and
in much of the building, the pillars were all unique, being
reclaimed from other buildings. They have different
capitals, feet, and materials.

One of the Christian apses near the entry

The old ceiling beams were replaced
with these.

Christian themes started appearing away from the
entrance.

Graves were added during the Christian
age. It was not a concept that Islam
endorsed.

The Imam would speak from here with his
back to the worshipers. The alcove was
cleverly designed to reflect and amplify
his words.

There were a lot of gold artifacts here
from the Christian era, but apparently
the collection is significantly reduced
from its height.

The newer Cathedral section

An original decoration was impacted
by an expansion project.

Above and below: the choir loft and the
organ is also visible below.

Leaving the Cathedral, we walked to lunch and then headed back to our bus for the trip home. We encountered a section of the original Roman wall and a Roman bridge.

An entry gate, probably Roman too.

An old section of wall

No idea what this is! It may be part of castle or Alcazar.

This is our last night on the Clio, so they produced a baked Alaska for desert. VERY yummy AND impressive. After dinner, we went to the top deck to watch our progress down the river to the Atlantic. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, we were well past the bridges, but did encounter a village enjoying their Saturday evening outdoors on a balmy evening.