The Ham Nomads

15 Feb 2015. <ES> Archidona, Málaga, & Córdoba, Córdoba, Andalucía —

Archidona

A bit of driving today, into Córdoba. But first we drove into the village of Archidona, and, by doing our usual trick of following the locals, we found a panadería who sold us the most beautiful baguette loaf of bread — when we finally got to eat it, it was one of the best we have had on our entire trip! (We had thought the Lidl loaves were the best, but this one trumped the lot!)

Bridge-building across our route

The Puente Romano (Roman Bridge)

Islamic Albolafia Water Wheel that once
would have raised water to the caliph's palace

Anyway, some fascinating driving, and then we got up to Córdoba. This time we had a feel for the parking, and found a spot at the sports ground (where there was a market running as we arrived). We got in at about 1pm, in plenty of time to walk the 500 metres to the Cathedral. We walked in, only to find the cathedral closed to the public until 3pm, as there was a mass in progress. So we decided to walk the streets nearby — good choice! This is a maze of narrow streets (through which taxis — somehow — work their way!). The shops are a fascinating mix of mainly souvenir shops and tapas bars. We found an out-of-the-way coffee bar, and sat down to enjoy a quiet cuppa — much to Suzie's delight, her cappuccino was topped with pure cream — as we waited for the cathedral to become available to tourists.

Finally we thought it time to work our way back to the Cathedral, with about half an hour to go before the hordes were let in. We found the ticket office, bought our entry, and then joined the queue to get in. It was raining a little, so it was just as well that the queue formed under the shelter of the colonnade that surrounds El Patio de los Naranjos (The Court of Oranges), the courtyard of the original mosque.

A foundation stone from the original mosque

Dome of the Mihrab

The Mihrab

The bell tower is basically
the original minaret!

The door of the extension
of Al-Hakam II

Finally the queue began to move, and we entered the Mosque — er, Cathedral — WOW! This is one of the most amazing places. The original mosque was built on the site of an earlier Visigothic church, and the mosque is virtually intact — King Alfonso X, the Wise, decided that it was such a beautiful building that, even though a cathedral was being constructed in its midst, the rest of the original mosque was not to be damaged in any way. In 1523, when work was under way on the present cathedral chancel and transept, there was dispute between the Bishop and the cathedral chapter, which resulted in the local council announcing the death penalty for any builder, mason, carpenter or labourer accepting to work on the demolition of any part of the former mosque. This policy holds even to this day (well, maybe not the death penalty) — when they have renovated the roof beams of the mosque, the original Quranic texts are being replaced in all their beauty! Apparently this policy caused an incident in 2010, when a group of Muslim tourists were so at home here that they all knelt to pray in the nave of the Mihrab. (Spanish Muslims have been petitioning the Catholic Church since 2000 to be allowed to pray here, to no avail.)

All the way round the edges of the mosque, in the little alcoves, numerous Christian chapels have been placed. Luckily they don't intrude to any great extent on the original design.

Ceiling of the Choir

We wandered the mosque, then went to look at the Christian Cathedral nave and transept. Mind-blowing in its own way — there is level upon level of design — the lower parts are in Gothic-Mudéjar style, near the stained-glass windows it's Mannerist, the dome is Herreran, and the choir can't decide whether it is Renaissance or Baroque! While we were there, the organist was putting the organ through its paces — he started off with a little quiet prelude in the style of Bach or Buxtehude, but then pulled out all the stops and gave us a blast of the instrument in all its power. Loud for the sake of loud is one thing, but an organ in full flight is a visceral experience!

We're glad we made the return trip to Córdoba, as to have missed out on the Mezquita–catedral de Córdoba would have been a crime!

As we were leaving the cathedral, the rain was threatening. Luckily it held off until we got back to the van. We then drove out, aiming for an aire a little bit further away than we would have liked, but on the way Suzie noticed a lovely little picnic spot off the N331 highway — more a back road — and we stopped off there for the night. Good choice — quiet, comfortable, and overhung by the now familiar gum trees.

Distance driven — today, 93 miles ( 150 km ); to date, 13,256 miles ( 21,334 km )