Cordoba and Jaen

We did the quick drive to Jaen and arrived tired at the Parador and all slept well.

the Parador

After discussion we decided to do a bit of driving and we are heading to Cordoba. Got a good park on the river at the end of the roman bridge – don’t know if it was legal but it was good. Over the river and into town. You can see the muslim influence all around the town with houses with patios inside. Unfortunately we have missed the week long party of the patios when people invite you in to have a look at their gardens.

Patio

The main attraction here is the Mezquita – the massive mosque complex built and extended by the Moslems when they were the rulers of the land between the 10th and 14th centuries. They had built it after demolishing a small Visigothic church (because they were not into religious tolerance – according to the guide).

The Mezquita Arches

When the Spaniards got back in, they wanted to preserve the structure of the mosque (as they were not into wrecking things like the Muslims – again I quote from the guide). So they built the cathedral within the structure of the mosque before they expelled the Jews and Muslims from Spain. Anyway, besides the interesting bombastic diatribe in the printed guide, the Mezquita is an amazing forest of arches that seems to stretch on forever. It would have been impressive full of people at prayer. At the southern end of the Mezquita is the mihrab, which points the faithful towards Mecca. This being the focal point is well decorated and has a roof tiled in gold mosaic that was a gift from the byzantine emperor in the 10th century.

Mihrab ceiling

Arches In the Mezquita

We went for a walk around Cordoba and saw a few sights, some of the private houses with their patios covered in flowers were great to see. We saw inside the 9th century Synagogue which has been all but forgotten after the Jews and Muslims were chased out of Spain in the 15th century. There were some scraps remaining of the detailed wall decorations with quotations in Hebrew.
Nearby I was looking for the bullfighting museum, but it was closed for renovations (and has been since 2008 according to the guide book) which annoyed me no end as I had dressed up specially.

We Love our Kukuxumusu

We headed back to Jaen and headed into town, but the places recommended were closed on these days. Instead we lucked on a tapas bar on Plaza del Posito where they have a great supply of jamon and salmorejo – a cold vegetable soup. Just wish I could remember the bar's name.

We had to climb up that after a drink or two...