Córdoba Strategically located on the north bank of the Guadalquivir River, Córdoba was the Roman and Moorish capital of Spain, and its old quarter, clustered around its famous Mezquita, remains one of the countrys grandest and yet most intimate examples of its Moorish heritage. Once a medieval city famed for the peaceful and prosperous coexistence of its three religious cultures-Islamic, Jewish, and Christian-Córdoba is also a perfect analogue for the cultural history of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1009, Prince Muhammad II and Omeyan led a rebellion that broke up the caliphate, leading to power flowing to separate Moorish kingdoms. An old Arab waterfall and the citys bridge-of Roman origin, though much restored by the Arabs and successive generations, the most recent in 2012-recall a far grander era. Córdoba today, with its modest population of a little more than 300,000, offers a cultural depth and intensity-a direct legacy from the great emirs, caliphs, philosophers, physicians, poets, and engineers of the days of the caliphate-that far outstrips the citys current commercial and political power. Its artistic and historical treasures begin with the Mezquita-Catedral (mosque-cathedral), as it is ever-more-frequently called, and continue through the winding, whitewashed streets of the Judería (the medieval Jewish quarter); the jasmine-, geranium-, and orange blossom-filled patios; the Renaissance palaces; and the two dozen churches, convents, and hermitages, built by Moorish artisans directly over former mosques. ( About this picture-; Artist : Edwin Lord Weeks (1849 – 1903) was an American artist. Title : Interior of a Mosque at Cordova. Date : circa 1880. Medium : oil on canvas).
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 12:28:55 +0000
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