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Located northeast of Seville,
Cordoba was founded by the Romans in 169 BC. and due to its strategic
importance as the highest navigable point of the Guadalquivir River, it
became a port city of great importance, used
for shipping Spanish olive oil, wine and wheat back to Ancient Rome. In fact
it was one of the most important capitals, an intellectual and cultural
center known throughout Europe. The Romans built the
mighty bridge crossing the river, now called "El Puente Romano". But Cordoba is the place where Moorish architecture in its oldest and most
pure form can be found. When it became the capital of the Moorish kingdom of
El-Andalus, it was when work began on the Great Mosque, or "Mezquita", which
– after several centuries of additions and enlargements – became one of the
largest in all of Islam. The Moors left a fabulous and
rich legacy of arts and architecture, Al Hambra, and Al Cazar as
well as La Mezquita are the Big 3 "must-see" attractions of
Andalucia.
But the town is also famous for its abundant small internal
courtyards, small stoned streets and flowers.
On the other hand, Cordoba is as well a very lively town in the best
Andalusian tradition, a town of Flamenco and bullfighting, and certainly one
of the most attractive destinations in southern Spain. |
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