ungkler: A Peaceful Mezquita

Cordoba
Autumn 2011

Crossing a Roman bridge to the Mezquita in Cordoba
(Nov-2011)

Journal Entry... Going to the Mezquita-Catedral in Cordoba had the hubby and I walking a maze of cobblestone streets, whilst crossing the Quadalquiver river was the Roman stone-and-arch bridge that leads straight to the Mezquita-Catedral.

3-nov: Day trip to Cordoba... Two and a half hours on the #Renfe high speed train from Madrid, is the city of Cordoba. Hubby and I walked to the old town, passing up on a taxi ride in Cordoba train station. I've got the Google map to the old town of Cordoba well stored in memory-- it was walking distance from the Cordoba train station.

Roman bridge crossing river Quadalquiver straight to Mezquita-Catedral de Cordoba

"San Rafael statue"
in a Roman bridge

Until, hubby and I got caught up in that web of narrow streets... Turning right, turning left, ending up in a street of white-washed walls with flowers hanging from balconies and the "Juderia" sign on the wall... Street led us back out of the walled city to where we started. Turning around, turning right, turning left... eventually, we hit the perimeter walls of the Mezquita-Catedral, and its entrance stone archway. Trivia: The Mezquita-Catedral de Cordoba was first the Church of San Vicente, Cordoba's patron saint. During the Islamic invasion of Cordoba, the Church was demolished to give way to the construction of a mosque. During the Reconquista of 1236, Christian crusaders recaptured Cordoba, who had reconverted the mosque and consecrated into a cathedral. But, the mosque was not destroyed, which was kept intact within the cathedral.

Two Peas in Cordoba

Inside the Mezquita-Catedral are distinct Moorish terracotta-and-white striped arches of the mosque merging with the Gothic-style of the cathedral, and vice-versa. At the center is the cathedral's main chapel, while on one side facing the direction to Mecca is a prayer niche, called the "Mihrab". Beneath the Mezquita-Catedral's current level are the remnants of the Church of San Vicente-- an opening in the ground allowed one to take a peek at the old church.

The Mihrab, a Muslim prayer niche, inside the Mezquita-Catedral

Minaret-Belfry amidst the rows of orange trees in the courtyard

Mezquita courtyard

Patio de los Naranjos (courtyard) of the Mezquita-Catedral is lined with rows of fruit-bearing orange trees. Trees are thick, and leaves sprouted randomly from branches in such vibrant green color, in autumn. Southwest of the Mezquita-Catedral is the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos which had once served as royal palace, until it was turned into a headquarter during the Spanish inquisition. The Alcazar is adorned with an Arab-style garden, which was unexpectedly well-maintained as I have observed during the visit. Hubby and I took a breather in the Alcazar amidst the landscaped gardens and water fountains, and a huge pool-turned-pond from where random fishes bobbed their heads on the surface ingesting air, whenever people neared it thinking they were being fed with food.

Alcazar gardens

Picking oranges
at Alcazar

Inside the Alcazar were more orange trees planted, bearing juicy-looking oranges that seemed to call out, "Pick me! Pick me!" And no one was around to stop me*wink;) Hubby would pose like picking an orange fruit from the tree, for photo-op. I, on the other hand, took my orange picking seriously, and had (already) detached two orange fruits from the tree. Well... those Cordoba oranges turned out to be as bitter-sour as they can be.

Picking oranges
at Alcazar

I washed off the bitter-sour taste of the Cordoba oranges with a Naranja (orange) soda, to rub off the fruit's bitter aftertaste in the mouth. Did you know? It was at the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos where the great voyager Christopher Columbus had an audience with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, before he set sail for the Americas; statues commemorating the event are right there in the Alcazar gardens.