Córdoba to Seville

Monday, April 13, 2026 

Our morning walking tour of Córdoba ('coor-dough-bah' with the emphasis on the 'coor') was with a phenomenal local guide named Isabelle. The city was built by the Romans and the historic old town center still has remains of the old Roman walls.  The city actually has four UNESCO World Heritage designations, the historic center being one, and is the only city in the world to have four (source, source).  

 As with many of the cities in Andalusía, there was a large Jewish Quarter at one time, and the city now has a Jewish Cultural Centre, The House of Sepharad.  'Sefarad' refers to the Jew's expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal) in 1492 ,on the anniversary of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (August 2nd on our calendar, but the 9th of Av on the Hebrew calendar). We visited Plaza de Tiberiades to see the statue of Maimonides (Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon): doctor, lawyer, astronomer, and philosopher -- one of the most illustrious figures born in the Cordoba of al-Andalus.

Our next visit was to the most famous site in Córdoba, at least I would assume it is, The Mosque-Cathedral.  The city is also known for its "patios" and the beautiful Patio of Oranges surrounding the mosque-cathedral is the largest in the city. Their Fiesta of the Patios is also on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity listing.

View from the Patio of Oranges

The mosque, built by Abd al-Rahman I, is on the site of the Visigoth basilica of San Vicente.  Also known as The Great Mosque of Córdoba, it was the biggest, and oldest, mosque on the Iberian Peninsula for over 500 years. In 1236 Ferdinand III arrived and changed it to a Catholic church. So, architecturally it is a mosque, but in practical use it is now a church. My photos just do not do the site justice - it's one of those sites best experienced in person.  

Subsequent rulers continually expanded the Mosque-Cathedral, so it now is about 250,000 sq. ft., one of the largest sacred buildings in the world. This site does a nice job of explaining all the layers and expansions. It was given its UNESCO designation in 1984, the first for Córdoba.  The stunning, well-preserved mihrab from 965 was made out of almost 1,000 mosaic pieces from Constantinople.

 

After the tour we had a few hours of free time, so I wandered around the labyrinth old streets and stumbled upon Casa Árabe (a.k.a. Casa Mudéjar).  It's the joining of 5 houses and 4 courtyards from the 14th and 15th centuries, and it was so lovely!  To my surprise, inside I found 4 of the most fascinating works of art - I wanted to take them home!  They are re-interpretations of famous art pieces done in Arabic calligraphy - to borrow Nico's phrase, "It was a wow!".  

Works by Ibn Zamrak & Idriss Azougaye

Another site that was nice discovery was the Capilla Mudéjar de San Bartolomé.  Mudéjar art is a hybrid artistic style combining Hispano-Muslim decorative and architectural elements with other styles in vogue at the time.  The style is the artistic expression of medieval Spanish society in which Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived side-by-side.

Capilla Mudéjar de San Bartolomé

 

View of Córdoba

Back on the bus, we headed to Seville, which in Spanish is pronounced 'seh-vee-yay'.  An odd fact for you all is that Seville is sister cities with Kansas City, Missouri, and they sent Seville a small monument in honor of that status (we saw it at a roundabout shortly before our hotel).  For dinner tonight we had a delicious meal at Deleite Sevilla.