April 11, 2026
This past Thursday, April 8th, we were out early to meet our guide Bea for a trip south to Tarifa and the Roman ruins across the Straits of Gibraltar with views of Tangier.
We were join by a German couple from Berlin. They spoke a little English and no Spanish, so were using a translator. Bea’s accent was strong enough that the translator kept thinking she was trying to speak Spanish.
A French archaeologist discovered the site in the early Twentieth century. The French are still working on uncovering and restoring the small city today. It is thought that a tsunami may have originally decimated the area and caused this Roman outpost to be abandoned.
We headed back to Tarifa for a short tour and free time for lunch and shopping.
We had a delicious Italian lunch and headed back to our pick up rendezvous.
Our next day was a flurry of activity, packing all our things. After 2 months we had quite a bit more to pack, both of us had to purchase an additional bag.
Cordoba, April 10-13, 2026
Having purchased advance train tickets at the station our trip to Cordoba was blessedly uneventful.
Our hotel, Hotel Casa Museo de la Mezquita was picked for its proximity to the Mosque-Cathedral and its artwork.
I booked a tour through the Jewish quarter (ghetto) and the Mosque-Cathedral for the next day. In the meantime we walked around taking in this beautiful city.
April 11, 2026
The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba was originally constructed by the Moors, it is an outstanding example of Islamic architecture. The structure is famous for its vast prayer hall containing a “forest” of over 850 columns made of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. Many of the pillars in later expansions were salvaged from Roman sites. The Mosque was expanded several times under different Emirs. The structure is approximately 260,000 square feet.
The Moors held the area from 785 to 1236, when king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s troops reconquered the area. At that time a small Christian chapel was added.
In the 15th century, the Bishop of Cordoba proposed demolishing the mosque and building a new cathedral, there was an uproar by the people of Cordoba, so King Charles V determined that the new cathedral be inserted into the center of the structure, a difficult undertaking.
When the Catholic monarchy retook southern Spain all Muslims were required to convert to christianity or leave. For a while the Jewish community was allowed to continue their own religious traditions, but eventually they too were required to convert or leave. Although many Muslim’s converted, much of the Jewish population chose to leave Spain. This Jewish community was made up of Sephardic Jews. The term “Sephardic” comes from Sepharad, the Hebrew word for Iberia (wiki). To this day there aren’t many Jews in Cordoba and at the time the Jewish quarter was established there were only about 300 inhabitants.
Although the temple above appears Moorish in its decorative design, it was done by converted Moors and has Hebrew inscriptions around many openings. The ceiling would have originally been a dome, but was damaged and replaced by the wooden ceiling.
Roses are blooming in Cordoba’s many beautiful gardens and parks.
Cordoba is also the home of the Andalusian Horse and the royal stables are located here. Unfortunately they were closed and we were unable to take in the equestrian dressage show.
I was here in Cordoba about 40 years ago, my memory is of walking in the Mosque-Cathedral mostly alone in it’s awe inspiring beauty and vastness. Now there are literally hundreds of people, a good reason to go with a tour to skip the line and security checks.
We are off to Valencia tomorrow to continue the adventure.
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