Cordoba built for exploring on foot
A worldly and sophisticated Islamic culture flourished in Cordoba more than a millennium ago, when the city was the capital of Islamic Spain and was Western Europe’s biggest and most cultured city.
Modern-day Cordoba is ideal to explore on foot, viewing old buildings centered on verdant patios, lingering in old wine bars and feeling history with every step.
The narrow streets of the old Juderia (Jewish quarter) and Muslim quarter stretch out from the great mosque, and it’s easy to spend a day wandering through them, sometimes retracing your steps to see that the same spot looks very different in sunlight and shadow.
Considered one of the world’s greatest works of Islamic architecture, the Mezquita was constructed over two centuries, starting in A.D. 784.
[...] the structure has had one major alteration — a 16th century cathedral smack in the middle of the mosque.
Walk inside from the Patio de los Naranjos, and pause first among the red-and-white striped arches and more than 850 jasper and marble pillars.
exhibits, film and information panels are in Spanish and English, and tell the history of the guitar and the flamenco greats.
Back near Las Casas de la Juderia is Casa Mazal, the only kosher restaurant in Cordoba, serving Sephardic as well as Moorish dishes.
drop in at the Casa de Sefarad, a museum devoted to the Sephardic tradition, covering food, ritual, music, domestic crafts and the Inquisition.
Once connected to the Casa de Sefarad by tunnel, the small Sinagoga (constructed in 1315), is one of the few testaments to the Jewish presence in medieval Andalusia.
Visits last 90 minutes, during which you can move freely through the hot, warm and cool baths, and the steam room (bathing suit required).
Get the complete experience by adding the traditional kessa and massage — the masseur lathers and scrubs you with a kessa glove and red grape soap, then massages you with essential oils.
Inside the stone walls, brick floors and ancient wooden doors, it feels as if you’ve found an exclusive restaurant hideaway.
After dinner, wander to Caballarizas Reales (Royal Stables), built in 1570 by King Philip II in an attempt to create a pure thoroughbred Spanish horse.