DAY 8 and 9 - CORDOBA

Next day we took leave of our pleasant apartment and took the train to Cordoba - to the East.  The Spanish rail system is efficient and up to date.  There are two parallel lines running between Seville and Cordoba, one for high speed trains and the other for slightly more pedestrian ones.  On the outbound trip we took the high speed train, non-stop to Cordoba.  42 minutes for a journey of 119 km - 170 km/hr.  This dedicated line was smooth and the very comfortable train sped merrily along.

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High speed train - the duck
We had much better luck with the apartment.  We arrived to time and the owner was ready and waiting for us. We were on the first floor overlooking the traditional courtyard.  Most apartments are secured behind a locked gate. The location was excellent as we could walk to most places of interest.  We were near a well-equipped supermarket and a great bakery.




  From our balcony
Our courtyard
The principal place of interest is the magnificent Mezquita, Cordoba's great mosque with its remarkably serene (despite the crowds) and spacious interior. It is considered to be one of the greatest works of Islamic architecture in the world. It represents an age when Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side enriching the City of Cordoba.  It is truly wonderous and amazing. It all began in the year 784 AD when Abd-ay-Rahman I bought the Hispanic Roman church of San Vicente.  At this location he used the church for Muslim communities for prayer and built a new mosque. It housed a relatively small number of people.  Over the years he and his successors increased the size of the mosque until it eventually could hold 40,000 Muslims.  In the 16th Century there was a remarkable redevolpment, a large cathedral was built in the middle of the mosque!
 
The entrance to the Mezquita
The bell tower built in the 17th Century around and above the remains of the 10th Century minaret

Once inside you are faced with many red and white coloured arches and multiple pillars.


There arches stretch as far as the eye can see, so large is the mosque


As mentioned the mosque was expanded many times and here you can see the join between one section and the next, later section.



This is the roof of maksura which is the former royal enclosure where the caliphs and their retinues prayed. It was placed just before the mihrab. 
The portal of the mihrab, the beautiful prayer niche which is the mosque's greatest treasure


Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Mezquita is the fact that in th middleof the mosque is a large 18th century Catherdral
The main altar of the Cathedral

A secondary altar
One of two organs which face each other
A detail of the roof of the cathedral
An even more elaborate roof


A highly decorated section of roof
Continuous restoration

In the Treasury
Another view of the main altar

The other organ
The courtyard outside the Mezquita
Trees provide shade from the hot Spanish sun
The bell tower on the top of the old minaret
The cathedral poking through the roof of the mosque

Looking down on the courtyard
A view over Cordoba from the bell tower
One of the bells
A better view of the cathedral in the mosque

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