Córdoba was an important city in the Iberian Peninsula during Roman times. During the war in the Arab region, Prince Rahman fled Damascus and became the ruler of Spain in 756 with the capital of Córdoba. Since then, Córdoba has become a prosperous commercial and culturally developed city, and is one of the world's top three cultural centers along with Baghdad and Istanbul.
Córdoba is a city with many cultural heritage and monuments, and its vast Arab civilization was at its most glorious in Europe during the Middle Ages. Since the beginning of the 11th century, it has been a major Islamic city and was once the second largest pilgrimage city in the Muslim world after Mecca.
Due to its strategic location on the Guadalquivir River and the numerous relics left by different ethnic groups, Córdoba has a splendid culture and has become a city with a special position in the heart of Western history, making it a permanent cultural bridge between East and West.
In today's global village, some people may think that the Islamic world is scattered, with no leading technology and no strong countries. However, a thousand years ago, many Islamic empires established by the Arabs, whether in terms of science and technology, literature and art, could easily throw off several streets in all European countries at that time.
If Granada is the swan song of Muslim history on the Iberian Peninsula, Córdoba is a well-deserved chapter. The beauty of the Alhambra has a sense of independence and solitude, and the heyday of Córdoba, although it was a thousand years ago, has continued to benefit the world today, making it unforgettable.
In 756 AD, Abd al-Rahman I, a descendant of the Umayyad dynasty, established the post-Umayyad dynasty in Córdoba, succeeded to the throne by Abd al-Rahman III in 912, conquered the kingdoms of Navarre and León eight years later, and established the Caliphate of Córdoba in 929 against the Abbasids of the Arab Empire.
The Caliphate of Córdoba, an emirate established during the Arab occupation of Spain, ruled for more than 100 years, with its capital in Córdoba. It is also known as the Western Saracen Empire in Western historical works, and was originally the satrapy of the Arab Empire.
Córdoba in the 10th century, like the metropolis depicted in the story of the Thousand and One Nights, flourished. According to Arab historians, Córdoba had a population of 500,000 (tens of thousands of inhabitants in Paris and London at the time), 700 mosques, hundreds of public baths, and countless courtyards with gardens and fountains.
Once the largest city in Western Europe, Córdoba is on par with Baghdad and Constantinople, and is one of the three major cultural centers of the Mediterranean-Middle East. Later, due to the infighting of the ruling group, the caliph was deposed, and many provinces under its jurisdiction became independent, and the Catholics took the opportunity to complete the reconquista.
In Roman times, Córdoba was the capital of the province of Betiga, and during the Islamic dynasty of Al-Andalus, Córdoba was the scientific and technological center of the world. It was the Phoenicians and Carthaginians who built Córdoba, and today's Old City is a World Heritage Site because of the light of these civilizations.
Córdoba retains its medieval plan and the peculiar layout of narrow alleys, with squares, streets, beautiful pools and elaborate gardens subtly integrated into the cityscape, and houses built along the meandering banks of the river. The ancient Roman bridge is still a reminder of how important its location once was.
The Great Mosque of Córdoba, with a mixture of Moorish and Spanish architecture, was built in the 8th century. After the Muslims occupied Córdoba, they rebuilt the Visigothic Catholic Church for their own use. When the Christians finally regained the lost ground, they rebuilt the mosque into a church.
In 786 A.D., King Abdul Rahman I, the Great Eater of White, wanted to make Córdoba a great religious center and ordered the rebuilding of a mosque on the basis of a Roman and Visigothic church. In the following few hundred years, its area doubled to accommodate more than 20,000 people, and it is known as a wonderful flower of Islamic architectural art.
A few years later, Córdoba was restored by the Kingdom of Castile, and the mosque was converted back to a Catholic church, adding Gothic and Renaissance styles to the Moorish style, becoming the only church in the world that blends multiple architectural styles and religious elements from the East and the West, and the mosque and Catholicism are integrated.
As a result, the two-hectare building is a spectacle: stone columns from the Roman era, Corinthian capitals, Moorish horseshoe arches, Byzantine niches and frescoes, and Baroque Catholic sculptures.
The main hall of worship is very majestic, 100 meters long and wide, and the dream corridor composed of 850 horseshoe-shaped arches is very gorgeous, and the bright red and white lines of the vault are full of exotic Arabian style. When shuttling through the dazzling corridor, it is as if you have walked into a wonderful territory that has frozen time and space, and the hesitation and shock are mixed together.
The pillars of the arch are 3 meters high, and the two layers of overlapping horseshoe-shaped rolls are made of alternating red brick and dolomite. The semi-transparent design makes the hall more mysterious and holy. Walking slowly through the space densely covered with giant stone pillars, taking pictures in the tall and empty echoing buildings, you are dazzled by the eyes and suddenly lost in the religious holy realm......
In this extremely simple and complex space, the last trace of restlessness on the traveler's body was quietly sucked and emptied, washed away by the lead, and the hustle and bustle faded away. For a moment, I thought that I had come to the Thousand and One Nights, among thousands of believers, prostrate, touching the ground with both palms, muttering, surrendering to this lonely ancient land.
From the 13th century onwards, Córdoba had an inestimable influence on Western Muslim art and on the development of the Neo-Moorish art form in the 19th century.
The Royal Palace of Córdoba is a square courtyard surrounded by impregnable walls and towers, and beyond the walls are beautiful gardens, which are popular places to visit every year. The main thing to see in the castle is a collection of mosaics from the Roman era and the royal baths, which unfortunately we arrived just in time to rest.
Walk upstream along the river, past a watermill and a small triumphal arch, the famous ancient Roman stone bridge. Built in the 1st century and renovated several times between the 13th and 19th centuries, the megalithic building is supported by 16 arches, with only the piers still preserved from the Roman period.
The old bridge connects the old and new towns, with the Grand Mosque and the Old Town at the north end, and the Kalahora Tower Bridgehead at the south end, which was originally a military fortress during the ancient Islamic rule, easy to defend and difficult to attack, used as a prison in the 18th century, converted into a girls' school in the 19th century, and is now a museum of Islamic civilization.
Ancient Roman bridges are still in use and are accessible to pedestrians and vehicles. On both sides of the bridge, semi-circular platforms are distributed for visitors to look out over the railing. The bridge is full of people, and the artists at the bridgehead are performing the roadside, you can walk quietly or stop to run, walk the dog, ride a bicycle, take a photo, be in a daze, and raise your mind......
If the city could be represented by color, I think Córdoba is dark gold. The impression may have begun with the gold-leafed niches of the Grand Mosque, the ochre-coloured silhouettes of the Roman stone bridges over the Guadalquivi River in the twilight quadrangle, or the alleys of the bifurcated paths under the orange-yellow streetlights before midnight.
In memory, they are like shiny black gold-like fragments, salvaged at will, and they can reflect the slight charm of the city. This once bustling city has now been transformed into a little-known niche city, with only the silent mosques showing its former glory and glory.
Córdoba is also known as the City of Hundred Flowers. The courtyard is usually a quadrangle, with an open air in the middle, a large family that pays attention to it, and there is a fountain in the courtyard, surrounded by flowers and plants. Some courtyards are paved with colored bricks, and flowers are planted directly on the wall, and as soon as you enter the courtyard, your eyes are full of flowers and the sound of water in your ears, and your heart will immediately cool down.
In this country of flowers, who dares to claim to be the national color, and who can boast of a unique heavenly fragrance?
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