CORDOBA

26 September 2017

Link for train information.

We take the 8.00 AM train from Seville and plan to have breakfast in train while enroute to Cordoba. It takes around 45 minutes for the train to reach Cordoba. Here, we take a local map for sight seeing and plan our visits.

We reach Cordoba quite early and the Mesquita opens from 10AM, so we decide to first visit the Roman Bridge and Calahorra Tower. This bridge though initially built by Romans then was modified and rebuilt by several new rulers. The Calahorra towers is the defensive site built by Moors to protect their city. There is a museum inside the towers, we skip going inside. Of course a lot of information on the bridge and the tower is available on the internet.

In between the Roman bridge and the alcazar there is an ancient wheel at the edge of the river. Seems like this is a part of the old water mill built by the moors on the banks of the Guadalquivir river overlooking the Roman bridge. Its in ruins currently, lots of trees, shrubs and unwanted plants growing around it, litter and rubbish around the wheel and dirty water in that part of river.

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Mesquita entry charge is quite high and it is available on site and on the day of the visit itself. Since the Mesquita is a fully functional Roman Catholic church, It is said that there is a dress code of no bare knees and no bare shoulders. However, unaware of this I am wearing shorts, but there are many like me in shorts and we did not face any problem. Apparently if you reach the Mesquita at 8.30 AM then the entry is free and you can stay till 9.20. 45 Minutes is sufficient if you are not interested in any chapels or so. We werent aware of this else we were in Cordoba early and could have benefitted from this. For non-Catholics like us who are simply interesting in once walking through the Mesquita, this is a good way to save money. But first make sure that this is valid at the time of your visit and then plan accordingly.

The Mesquita is beautiful, was Mosque intially, now converted into a church. The gardens are very beautiful with lots of orange and pomegrande trees. The tickets to the bell tower is sold separately, we skip visiting the bell tower here as we have already visited a similar one in Sevilla.

Next is the Alcazar. It is the castle where the Christian Monarchs lived. It is huge, worth spending an hour here. The gardens are beautiful and we take time off to sit here and enjoy the beautiful fountains and flowers. After visiting both these sights, we now take a walk around the Jewish quarters. We stroll through a small alley ‘Calleja de las Flores‘ that ends in a small Plaza. There are many such narrow alleys to explore the Cordoba town to be explored. Take your time to stroll around the place. We visit the Jewish Synagogue in the Jewish quarters, it is a small run-down building which is now a museum. There are religious inscriptions in the interiors of the synagogue.

We also visit an Aristocratic Palace and museum (Palacio de Viana). Worth spend 15 minutes here. While strolling around the streets of cordoba we enter into a small home style cafe for lunch (see pics below of our lunch). Highly recommend trying out these cafes for food.

The Jewish quarters are now converted into jewellery shops, cafes and collectibles shops. Pearls are quite popular here and I buy a beautiful pair of silver pearl earrings.

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Traveller Tips

• Expect a lot of walking here. wear comfortable shoes.
• You can relax in the beautiful gardens of Alcazar.
• Seating place in the Mesquita as well, senior citizens would require some rest at regular intervals.
• You can expect to be back in Sevilla by sunset.
• Trains are the best way of transport from Sevilla to Cordoba.
• Do not miss this beautiful sleepy little town.
• Get food and water from home for sure. You cant be eating out the whole day.