Cordoba este un ora de dimensiuni medii cu aproximativ 350.

000 de
locuitori si capitala provinciei Cordoba. Situat n centrul Andaluziei din
Spania constituie un mare punct de referin cultural n Europa. Acest ora
antic a fost declarat Patrimoniu Mondial i conine un amestec de diverse
culturi stabilite de-a lungul istoriei.
Crdoba s-a bucurat de un statut favorabil sub dominatia romana. Sub
mpratul Augustus (27 .Hr. la AD 14), a fost capitala provinciei Baetica, cel
mai mare ora din Peninsula Iberic i locul de natere al omului de stat
roman i filozof Seneca. Seneca a fost filosoful care a continuat s-l mediteze
pe nebunul mprat Nero care de altfel s-a nscut aici, aa cum a fost si
poetul Lucan. Pentru romani, Crdoba nu a fost un avanpost barbar, cum a
fost Londinium sau Tingis (Tanger in zilele noastre), ci un centru de
civilizaie , unde adevraii romani au trait si si-au crescut familiile.
n grdinile elegante din spatele Alczar de los Reyes Cristianos, este
amintita via de zi cu zi; pri ale acestei gradini nc urmeaz liniile
originale romane, cu chiparoi, arborele Romei, care sta in picioare nalt in
zone umrboase Podul roman inca traverseaza Ro Guadalquivir (unul dintre
cele mai importante ci navigabile din Spania), exist fragmente de zid
roman aici i acolo, i mai multe mozaicuri conservate perfect n interiorul
Alczar. Dar, cum imperiul de la Roma, care s-a prbuit n secolul al 5-lea,
orase precum Crdoba au fost abandonate de ctre administraia central i
abandonate vandaliilor si vizigotiilor, care au construit propriile spaii de
locuit, propriile lor biserici.
Crdobas greatest years of glory, however, were from 756 to 1031, when it was the capital of alAndalus(Islamic Spain). It was during this period that the Great Mosque was built, the first part in the
8th century and the fourth and final section, in the late 10th century. Its progressive growth mirrored the
increasing importance of Crdoba, which in the 10th century was the largest and greatest city in Europe.
Its size at its peak is debatable; estimates have ranged from an unlikely 1.000.000 to 90,000, still a
significant number when no other city in Europe exceeded 50,000. The city dazzled with its civilised air
and multicultural activity, with Muslims, Jews, and Christians (called mozrabes) mingling at all levels.
The Christians enjoyed the privilege of being served by a bishop, while in the 10th century the Jews could
count on the services of the extraordinary figure of Hasdai ibn Shaprut, personal physician to the Caliph,
adviser, diplomat, scholar, benefactor and patron.
Crdoba in the 10th century was a magnet. People came and went, awed by the splendour and
magnificence of Abd al-Rahman III's court,

Medina al-Zahara: Saln rico. Click to enlarge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medina_Azahara

especially the sumptuous palace, the Medina al-Zahara, which he had constructed just to the west of
Crdoba. They came to confer with the Caliph, they came to learn, they came in search of cures; King
Sancho of Len, deposed of his throne, turned up in 957 for treatment for obesity. He not only recovered
his health but also his throne, thanks in large part to the Muslim army he took back with him.
Abd al-Rahman III (ruled 912-961)
took the title of caliph in 929, thus
challenging the authority of the caliph
in Baghdad.

Crdoba boasted paved streets, a form of public lighting and luxurious villas with indoor plumbing (real
water closets) along the banks of the Guadalquivir. Patios, gardens and fountains were refreshing oases
against noise and the blistering summer heat, and public baths kept the body clean, if not necessarily
godly.
Streets were narrow, cool and known for their cleanliness. A modern day visitor to the old Jewish and
Moorish quarters near the mosque will have some idea of what it must have been like, except that there
would have been no windows with the familiar ironwork grills that now feature as part of the romance of
Andalusia. These are later appendages to what were blank outer walls; Muslim home life centred on the
inner patio with its fountain, climbing flowers and perhaps a citrus tree.

A typical patio in Crdoba

Commerce was organised in areas or streets according to trade, something like the souks that we find to
day in e.g. Moroccan towns. Those selling perfumes and spices were allowed to trade outside the mosque,
but sellers of malodorous goods were shunted off to outer areas. Why offend those coming to prayer with
unpleasant stenches when the delights of perfume and spices would put them in a much more favourable
frame of mind for meditation!
Crdoba enjoyed a booming economy thanks to its skilled artisans and agricultural infrastructure. It was
famous for its leather and metal work, glazed tiles and textiles. The variety of agricultural goods
introduced by the Moors was astonishing: oranges, lemons, limes, watermelons, figs, pomegranates,
almonds, bananas, artichokes, eggplants, spinach, sugar-cane. There were herbs and spices such as
cumin, caraway, coriander, fennel, mint, parsley, cloves and nutmeg. And then there were cash crops such
as cotton, flax and silk. The introduction of such a variety of new products signalled a dramatic
improvement in diet and health.

As a centre of learning, Crdoba was famous for its books, avidly collected by the Caliphs themselves. The
library of al-Hakam II (caliph from 961 to 976) was said to number some 400.000 volumes at the time
that the famous monastery of Ripoll in Catalonia could boast of its 192 volumes. Exaggerated or not, the
point to keep in mind is that the pursuit of knowledge and the power of words were taken seriously.
Calligraphy was a highly valued art giving reverence to the language, and copyists were retained to
reproduce precious manuscripts. Al-Hakam's greatest fear was that his library would not long survive his
death. He was right. The vizier al-Mansurthe unofficial ruler of al-Andalus from 976 to 1002-- burned
most of the books on philosophy to please the Muslim clergy; most of the others were sold off or perished
in the civil strife not long after.

Medicine, mathematics, astronomy, botany, bolstered by constant contact with Baghdad and the east,
were far in advance of anything that the rest of Europe had to offer. Algebra --a combination of Greek
geometry and Indian arithmetic-- was an Arab creation and Arab numerals --which we use every day
without thinking of their provenance-- replaced the cumbersome Roman system. With Arab numerals
came the decimal notation and the concept of zero (probably derived from India). The implications of
these innovations were profound as abstract calculations found a new and much more flexible language. It
was this mathematical know-how that permitted the building of the great Gothic cathedrals of the Middle
Ages.
The power of Crdoba collapsed spectacularly through internal strife in the early 11th century and alAndalus splintered into numerous mini states called taifas, the most powerful of which was
the taifa ofSeville. Crdoba remained a Moorish city until 1236 when it fell to advancing Christian forces
from the north.
The Christians affirmed their victory by building a series of churches known as the iglesias
fernandinassince they were commissioned by Ferdinand (Fernando), King of Castile/Len. They are solid
low, transitional Romanesque-Gothic structures with a fortress-like look that we might expect in an area
that was still politically unstable.
The Great Mosque was immediately "cleansed" and mass held in it, with Ferdinand in attendance. Shortly
after, the bells that had been removed from the Christian pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela in
Galicia in 997, and converted into lanterns for the Great Mosque, were returned north with all due
ceremony. Modifications to the building at this time were relatively minor: primarily the building of
chapels along the inside of the walls. What was more important, perhaps, was the appropriation for
Christian worship of the most important building in any Muslim community, its mosque. It was a very
real way rubbing strong salt into the wounds of defeat.

Cordoba: Cathedral rising out of Mosque

http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Arts.CasselmanImage

A major alteration took place in the Great Mosque in the 16th century, over the protests of the people.
A Gothic/Renaissance church was implanted in the middle of the delicate rows of columns. When the
king,Charles (Carlos) V who had authorised its constructionsaw the completed change in 1526, he is
said to have exclaimed: "You have built here what you or anyone might have built anywhere else, but
you have destroyed what was unique in the world." (Coincidentally, it was the same Charles V who

authorised the building of a Renaissance Palace within the Alhambra, the Moorish Palace
overlooking Granada.)

Charles is not the only one to have regretted the construction of the church --actually it is only
a coro(choir stalls) and chancel. Still, it provides us with a unique and excellent opportunity to see the
approach of two major religions to the same God/ Allah. The mosque is a low building, befitting the
Muslim emphasis on submission to Allah; the church soars upwards as if in an effort to reach heaven
itself. And having one building within the other is a perfect metaphor of the close, even symbiotic,
relationship between the two cultures for several centuries.
Spanish Muslim authorities have sought permission to pray in the Cathedral, but such requests have always been turned
down on the grounds that Muslims cannot pray in a consecrated Catholic church. Individual Muslims attempting to pray in
the Mezquita have been prevented from doing so by guards

After its collapse, Crdoba became a cultural backwater rescued from oblivion only by its architectural
riches. Nineteenth-century travellers from beyond the Pyrenees almost unanimously condemned its
appearance. The Reverend Samuel Manning summed up general sentiment when he described Crdoba in
the 1860s as a poverty-stricken, decayed, and dilapidated city... without trade, without manufactures,
without life or movement of any kind (p. 118). The ruling elite of Crdoba were notorious for their
disinterest in the outside world and for their intellectual laziness. In truth, the same might be said of
most Spanish towns in the nineteenth century, although for Crdoba the perception of poverty and decay
was probably more pronounced in view of its past glory.
Change has been slow, but Crdoba is now a bustling agricultural centre drawing its wealth from the
rolling cornfields, olive groves and vineyards of the fertile Guadalquivir valley and, since the 60s, from
booming tourism.