Cordoba Daytrip- sorry in advance for the picture overload!

On Saturday we woke up bright and early for a daytrip to Cordoba, Spain, led by our DePaul professors, the Doctors Boeck (who happen to be the cutest and most intelligent couple in the entire world and who I have a slight obsession with- they both speak like ten languages, literally, and went to Harvard and Yale for graduate school, and call each other "their colleagues"). We took the high-speed train from Madrid to Cordoba, called the Ave, which travels somewhere around 200 km per hour. Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to gaze at the window to gague how quickly we were moving because I was out like a light and slept like a baby for the entireity of the hour-and-a-half ride.

The Ave, taken in the dark at the buttcrack of dawn

The classes that the Doctors Boeck are teaching are history and art history, so the entire day was basically a lesson in art, architecture, religion, and history. Cordoba is one of the few places in Spain, and the entire world, in which Islam, Christianity, and Judaism coexisted. So there are a lot of very interesting places to visit. Another interesting and great thing about the city-- palm trees and orange trees, brought by the Muslims. So tropical!

Unfortunately we did not have good weather- it rained all day long. My pictures didn't turn out very well due to all the rain... But there was still a lot to see and enjoy.

Thank goodness Lindsey brought her umbrella!

We visited seven main sites throughout the day:

1)      A Roman burial site- it is right outside the old city, very large, and most likely the burial place of a wealthy woman. You can still see the ancient Roman road around it.

2)      The Jewish Quarter- it is on the outskirts of the old city and well preserved because it was an unpopular place to live and work for many years

3)      A typical home in medieval Cordoba- it is now decorated as a Muslim home but no one is quite sure which group of people originally lived there

Cellar!

Super old flooring in the cellar

Pebble mosaic around the fountain in the courtyard



The family well



4)      The museum of Jewish history- an old home converted to a museum in the Jewish quarter

5)      An ancient synagogue, one of three remaining in all of Spain- it is very nondescript on the outside but very ornate inside- plus you have to imagine that it used to be painted in reds, greens, and blues. 

6)      The Great Mosque of Cordoba- this was one of the most amazing, beautiful sites I have ever visited. I can’t even begin to describe it… in a nutshell, the mosque of Cordoba is the largest and most ornate mosque in all of Spain. Cordoba was the center of Muslim Spain and its most lavish space was the mosque. It is HUGE. It was originally the site for a Christian church and when the Muslims took over, the built the mosque on top of it. This re-use and re-purposing of religious spaces happened a lot as both a religious and political statement. When the Christians re-conquered Cordoba, the mosque was preserved but a cathedral was built right into the middle of it. And now, it’s a museum. So much history.

The outside of the mosque

Courtyard

Irrigation for all of the palm trees in the courtyard

Courtyard and the top of the cathedral

Horseshoe arches everywhereeee

Old flooring from the original Christian church

Ceiling

Qibla wall, where Muslims pray toward

Cathedral- so out of place!

7)      The Roman Bridge- one of the many pieces of Roman architecture that still stands in Spain today. It is no longer open to car traffic, but can you imagine something lasting so incredibly long?! Amazing.

And that was my Saturday! Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!