Saturday, May 20th 2023.
Cordoba – Day 1 of 2.
Our first full day in Cordoba began with a traditional breakfast of toast and tomato relish, coffee, and a fried scrambled egg just outside the fortress wall as a group of 8 affluent Harley Davidson motorcyclist drove by escorted by the Spanish Police.
This group wasn’t your typical Hell raising type of bikers by any stretch and their fleet of iron horses were sparkling new and polished. You could say they were more of a retired seniors group with their significant others who had driven from Germany on a holiday tour of Spain’s Cordoba.
Out first order of business was to access the bell tower that we saw last night and to have a look at the city from this vantage point.
Entrance arches beneath the bell tower
Mid-6th century Visigoth Basicila, Muslim 786 to 1146, Christian 1236 to present. Each warring group using the strength, beauty and architecture of its concurred to build upon their own temples/churches and art. The tower and entire Mesquita-Cathedral of Cordoba is strewn with languages carved into wooden beams, stone, bronze, iron, silver and gold.
Pedro! Did you remember to bring the molten lead up to set the iron baluster tang into place? No? Ok then bring up a bow tie stone and chisel that into place instead.
Little did I know how mine blowing the next part of our day would be just from looking at the roof of the building below. There are about 856 marble columns holding up each walkway in this building. Each successive group of people adding to the building through the eons and incorporating their own ideas of what the architecture should be.
Beyond this wooden door lies a mind blowing architectural marvel. Prepare yourself for some incredible photos. I’ve limited it to only a few dozen out of the hundreds I’ve taken today since a picture doesn’t do it justice.
You could spend days in here and still not see it all. Each mosaic tile tells a story and was crafted to the highest calibre.
Two pipe organs and multi level choir podiums.
Double archways allowed the construction to be built taller than ever before.
A glass window on the floor exposes the caverns and tiles of antiquity beneath the current structure.
Back on the streets, there were hundreds of ladies and young girls dressed to the 9’s in traditional clothing. Saturdays weather was suppose to rain but it stayed sunny and clear nearly to sunset.
We did manage to get a little damp while on our way to supper however, and then the lightning came. That was our motivation to get back to the Casa for the night.
Tomorrow we’ll be looking into catching a train to Seville since the weather is looking a little sketchy for the next two days. After last night’s lightning and rain storm, we’re taking this weather a little more seriously.