Very high heat forecasted again and most city landmarks have
been visited so we will retrieve the car and head out to Medina Azahara for a visit. This amazing place is the ruins of a vast
medieval palace-city built by Abn-ar-Rahman III al-Nasir. Caliph of Cordoba. It
was the capital of al-Andalus. It was vast and elaborate and magnificent as befitted
the ruler of the Muslim regime in Spain.
Their beloved Al-Andalus. Water was supplied through aqueducts and plumbed in
to the baths and fountains and pools. It is said it was built as a tribute to
his favorite Azahara in the years 961-976. It was built quite quickly but only
lasted about 70 or 80 years! That really blows my mind! Civil war erupted and
it was sacked in 1010. As often happened in these cases, the materials were
used for buildings elsewhere and in the 15th C San Jeronimo
monastery was built with much of the building materials! They only started
excavating in 1910 and about 15% has been completed. A fascinating place, we
are truly living the history here.
The heat was making us queasy so we did not ride the bus to
the excavation site out in the direct sun. Instead we headed back into Cordoba.
Paul had a mindset for the pizza stand within the Victoria cooperative. Instead
of the prepared flatbreads we opted to choose our preferred toppings and wait
for the results after 10-12 minutes. Really quite good. The only seats were
available at an interior patio with some misters and fans and an AC breeze from
the interior giving relief from the heat. Definitely siesta time this heat is
brutal!
We researched the Best Place to Eat in Cordoba trick and
settled on a taxi ride to the Taberna in
the middle of town. Turns out it was next to 100 Montaditos. Cold Almond soup
and tapas filled the bill. While we were sulking inside during siesta the heat
had broken, dropping temperatures to the low 90s. Quite balmy! We decided to
walk towards the river and discovered a whole unexplored area, the business district of Cordoba. Passed a
theater where many of the patrons had brought their own chairs. Why? Don’t
really know but perhaps they were for guitar players.
As we were strolling past the Mesquita we heard music and
had one of those magical bits of luck. There was a choir located in the Patio
de los Naranjos. The ladies wore their lace shawls, the gentlemen suits and
those fabulous hats with the flat crown and a brim. They were singing all the,
what I can only call, traditional Cordoban songs. People were wandering in and
sitting down and swaying with the music and applauding enthusiastically. It was
a beautiful night, the stars were bright and the music divine, sigh.
We did not visit the Mesquita this time as we have been there
often but perhaps Paul will include a photo, it is truly magnificent.
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