Cordoba is famous for it's beautiful patios. They even have a competition every year to find the best patios. I will bet it is stunning in the spring.
I visited a small palace that boasted 13 different patios . Here are some of them. Since it pretty late on the year there are not a lot of flowers but you can see that the " bones" are good.
The main thing I did today was visit the more than 1,000 year old mosque turned Catholic church here. It is called the "Mezquita" and it is something to see. The Visagoths first built it in the 700's. A part of the mosaic floor remains on view. Then, when the Moors moved in, they built this tremendous mosque. It could contain over 15,000 men kneeling on their prayer mats.
The extreme amount of double arches is amazing.
This is the area where the Iman stood when he spoke to the people.
The stonework is this really intricate mosaic. The coolest thing was that somehow it sparkled. Not sure how.
You couldn't get close so I zoomed in with this shot.
The architecture was just beautiful.
Apparently the Christians thought so too because when they ousted the Moors in the 1200's they did not tear it down. Instead they had the bright idea to build a Church right in the big middle of the mosque. Trust me it is so weird. You're in a mosque and then suddenly you see it! The standard church with the choir loft and organ and the crucifixion everywhere. Oh and the bars to keep the riff raff out of the chapels. And it continues today.
Here is what they were all jostling to see.
Look carefully and you can see it looks like all the saints are safely in their cages.
Sorry if I seem to have a bad attitude but I had just been reading some stuff about the inquisition and well, I wasn't feeling all that positive toward the church and it's part in history.
So I decided the best way to round off this day was with a visit to an ancient synagogue . There was only one as far as they can tell. It was very small and modest. The whole thing was smaller than my house.
Of course most of the Jews had to leave Spain due to the inquisition. They had been living here peacefully with the Muslims for hundreds of years until that time. I wonder how they managed it?
Anyway, it was a very thought provoking day.
Location:Cordoba,Spain
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