The Most Unique Experiences To Have In Crdoba Spain

Córdoba shares many of its charms with Andalusia’s other great cities, but it also offers much that is not to be found anywhere else in Spain. From wandering around the city’s incomparable Mosque-Cathedral to enjoying one of its local dishes, here are some experiences only to be enjoyed in Còrdoba.

Attend the Cruces de Mayo Festival

The “Crosses of May” festival is celebrated in some other Andalusian cities – most notably Granada – but its most famous incarnation takes place in Córdoba every spring, at the end of April or beginning of May. According to legend, this annual homage to the crucifix on which Jesus was martyred dates back to the 4th century AD, when St Helen’s son Constantine was supposedly aided in battle by a large cross his troops built for him. You don’t need to know the background to appreciate this lovely four-day feria though, during which elaborately decorated crosses are erected in the squares of Córdoba’s old town. Andalusians being the inveterate socialisers they are, makeshift bars and BBQs are also set up in the squares and the locals take to the streets in huge numbers, making this one of the liveliest events in Andalusia.

Be enchanted by the Feria de los Patios

Córdobas patios festival is one of the most enchanting events in Andalusia; Encarni Novillo

Enjoy Salmorejo

Everyone’s heard of gazpacho, but less well known is a delicious variation on the famous summer dish that hails from Córdoba. Salmorejo, like its more ubiquitous cousin, is made from fresh tomato juice, olive oil and garlic – but it is thickened with breadcrumbs and usually topped with chunky wedges of cured jamon, croutons and slices of hard-boiled egg. Any tapas bar in Córdoba worth its salt will offer a homemade version of this local classic – often featuring the cook’s individual twist – and it makes for a refreshing, light lunch in the searing heat of a Córdoba summer. The locals are proud of their contribution to Andalusian cuisine and, although you’ll find salmorejo served all over the region, they’ll tell you no one else does it like the Córdobeses.

1. Visit the Mosque-Cathedral

Building, Cathedral, Church, Mosque

Córdoba is the only city in Andalusia where the region’s two defining cultures are magnificently embodied in the same structure. The city’s Mosque-Cathedral is the greatest dual-identity monument in Spain and a powerful symbol of the twin forces of Andalusian history. After the Moors captured Córdoba in 711, what had previously been a Visigoth Christian church was split in two and used by both Christians and Muslims as a place of worship. But in 784, on the orders of the Emir Abd al-Rahman, the church was destroyed and work on a great mosque began. Construction lasted for over two centuries and the building was eventually completed in 987, by which point Córdoba was the most important city in the Islamic Kingdom.

When the city was reclaimed by Christians in 1236, the mosque was converted into a church and in the 16th century Charles V added a great Renaissance nave right on top of the original Moorish structure. The mosque’s most famous feature is its vast main hall, which is supported by over 850 double-arched columns. This iconic and somewhat hypnotising architectural feature was the result of architectural necessity, since with single-arch columns (of about seven or eight feet in height) the immense roof would have been too low. Along with Granada’s Alhambra, this amazing building is southern Spain’s greatest historical monument.
Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba, 1 Calle del Cardenal Herrero, Córdoba, Spain, +34 957 47 05 12

The famous double-arches of Córdoba’s mosque-cathedral; Amoniaq, pixabay

Admire the Guadalquivir River and Surrounding Landscape

Like Seville, Córdoba sits either side of the Guadalquivir river, the murky green waters of which flow down through Andalusia and its capital before emptying out into the Atlantic. The Guadalquivir played a crucial role in enriching the Spanish Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries, as its river port (the only one in Spain) provided privileged access to the newly-discovered Americas. Crossing the river is Cordoba’s famous Roman bridge – a great viewpoint from which to survey the mighty (and utterly unique) Mosque-Cathedral as well as the unusually green and hilly landscape that surrounds the city. This verdant countryside is a pleasant change from the sun-scorched terrain that usually prevails in Andalusia, and can also be glimpsed, rolling away into the distance, between the houses of the old town.

2. Visit the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos

Building, Library, Ruins

If it weren’t for its name – “The Castle of Christian Kings” – you’d be forgiven for thinking that Córdoba’s second-best monument dates from the city’s time under Moorish dominion. In fact, the construction of this royal palace was ordered by the Catholic King Alfonso XI of Castile in 1328, almost a hundred years after the city was recaptured from the Moors; as is so often the case in Andalusia, though, it was built amongst the ruins of a vast Moorish fort. In the late 10th century, when the Islamic Kingdom was at the height of its powers, Córdoba was the kingdom’s – and indeed one of the world’s – great intellectual cities, and the Alcazar housed the largest library in the west. Though Alfonso used only a fraction of the remains of the original Moorish structure in building the Alcazar, he nevertheless chose a Mudejar style for the palace, thus paying tribute to his predecessors’ refined aesthetic sensibilities.

Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, Plaza Campo Santo de los Mártires, s/n, Córdoba, Spain, +34 957 42 01 51

Córdoba’s Alcazar palace; Pixels4Free, pixabay

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