Córdoba

ARABIC MILLS. The most noteworthy of the Arabic mills which stand on the banks of the River Guadalquivir is Albolafia Mill, which was used both for milling grain and for transporting water from the river to the caliphs’ castle.
LOS VILLALONES HOUSE. A 16th-century Cordoba manor house.
ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH. Ferdinand II ordered the building of St. Andrew’s Church in the 13th century. Little more than the site itself remains of the original building, the tower was built in the 16th century and the whole church was practically rebuilt in the 18th century. Inside, an important collection of art awaits the visitor, the highlight being the baroque reredoses.
LA MAGDALENA CHURCH. Located in one of Cordoba’s most traditional squares, Plaza de la Magdalena, it was built on the orders of Ferdinand III in the 13th century and reflects the Gothic tendencies of the time. Throughout its history, it has been subjected to a number of restorations, most recently in the last decade of the 20th century, when the church lost its religious character and became a cultural centre and the scene of exhibitions, concerts, conferences and other activities related with Cordoba’s social and cultural life.
TRINITARY MONASTERY. Also known as Fathers of Grace Church. The church of the Barefoot Trinitary Fathers Monastery looks out onto the square popularly known as Plaza del Alpargate (Sandal Square). It was built on the site of an old chapel in the 17th century and is a typical example of Cordoba baroque. Inside is the statue of the Rescued Jesus of Nazaereth (Jesús Nazareno Rescatado), the subject of particular fervour among the local people, and the Four Gospels (Cuatro Evangelios), the work of the sculptor Gomez de Sandoval, born in Cordoba in 1713 and considered to have been one of the best image-makers of the 18th century.
ST. LAWRENCE’S CHURCH. After the conquest of the city by Ferdinand III in the second half of the 13th century , this church was among the first seven to be founded here. It stands on the site of a former mosque. In the Middle Ages, the dedication of the church to the martyr St. Lawrence made it one of the most popular in Cordoba. Only a few sculptural elements in its capitals still survive from mediaeval times. The tower, which stands on the foundations of the earlier mosque, is the work of Hernan Ruiz the Younger.
ST. RAPHAEL’S CHURCH. Also known as the Church of the Oath, it was built during the 17th century and subsequently enlarged at the end of the 18th, the façade belonging to the latter period. Inside is an interesting baroque altarpiece and a statue of St. Raphael, the Guardian Archangel, the subject of great fervour among the people of Cordoba, made by the locally-born Alonso Gomez de Sandoval, considered to have been one of the best image-makers of the 18th century.
ST. AUGUSTINE’S CHURCH. Little now remains of the Church and Convent of St. Augustine. In the 19th century, occupied by Napoleon’s troops, it suffered serious damage. However, its location is one of the most traditional in the old centre of Cordoba, and the façade of the church looks out onto St. Augustine’s Square, with its statue of the popular Cordoba flamenco singer, Ramon Medina.
ST. VICTORIA’S CHURCH. Part of St. Victoria’s College, built in the second half of the 18th century by the French architect Baltasar Dreveton. One of the first examples of Neoclassicism to appear in Cordoba.
THE MARQUIS OF VIANA’S PALACE. This 16th-century aristocratic building is also known in Cordoba as the Museum of the Patios, as the palace is built around a series of patios in the finest Cordoba tradition, profusely decorated with floral motifs. In addition to its architectural interest, the museum also boasts a number of art collections, the highlight being tapestries by Goya and Bayeu, porcelain pieces and firearms.
ST. MARINA’S CHURCH. After Cordoba was conquered by Ferdinand III, St.Marina was one of the first seven churches founded in the city. Time, along with a series of renovations, have altered the church’s original Mudejar Gothic design.
SAN CAYETANO CHURCH. Declared a National Monument of Historical and Artistic Importance, it is an example of the Cordoba school of classicist baroque. Inside are a series of magnificent fresco paintings which cover all visible surfaces.
LA MAL MUERTA TOWER. A country tower close to the city walls, built on the orders of Henry III in the first decade of the 15th century. A very popular old Cordoba legend has it that a nobleman killed his wife and, for having taken the law into his own hands, was sentenced by the king to build a tower, in which he would spend the rest of his days, in memory of the woman who had been wrongly killed ("mal muerta"). There are, however, no details to confirm the truth of this legend; what is certain is that in the 18th century it was a prison in which Cordoba nobles were incarcerated, and that in the 19th it was used as a military gunpowder store.
PLAZA DE LOS DOLORES. Also known as Capuchinos or El Cristo de los Dolores Square, the latter a reference to one of Cordoba’s best-known images, popularly known as "Cristo de los Faroles" (“Christ of the Lamps”). The square is home to the Capuchin Convent and Los Dolores Church, where the Virgen de los Dolores is worshipped with great devotion by many of the Cordoba faithful: it is traditional for children born in the city to be brought to “touch the Virgin’s cloak”.
ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM. Located in a former palace belonging to the Paez de Castillejo family, behind the building’s magnificent Renaissance façades are three beautiful patios built in traditional Cordoba style and a series of rooms displaying Roman mosaics, relics from the Visigoth era, important collections from the Arabic-Andalusi period and other Renaissance and baroque pieces; all fine examples of Cordoba’s past which make this museum a must for the visitor.
PLAZA DE LA CORREDERA. The name of this square is derived from the fact that, due to its considerable size, it played host to the city’s most popular events, in particular horse races (corredera means racetrack) and bullfights, the latter continuing to be staged here until the first half of the 19th century. Steeped in history, the square has witnessed important proclamations, public executions, auto-da-fés and all manner of other events which drew large crowds. Its present-day layout reflects the design chosen in 1683 by the chief magistrate Francisco Ronquillo, who ordered its construction. For a long time the market was also held here, occupying the central area of the square in various guises. Currently under restoration, La Corredera is a meeting point for both locals and strangers to Cordoba, who sit on its bar terraces and in its cafés or browse in the antique and handicraft shops which are to be found beneath its portico galleries.
ST. PETER’S CHURCH. St. Peter’s Parish Church is one of Cordoba’s most traditional Christian temples. Built in the second half of the 13th century, it follows the Gothic tendencies of other Cordoba churches of the period. The original Gothic façade was replaced by the present-day version, a purist design by Hernan Ruiz II, in 1542. The church was completely restored in the last decade of the 20th century.
PROVINCIAL FINE ARTS MUSEUM AND JULIO ROMERO DE TORRES MUSEUM. Located in the former Caridad de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo Hospital, whose façade faces out onto the famous Plaza del Potro square, the Fine Arts Museum has its origins in the Provincial Museum, founded in the same building in 1844, and houses an interesting collection of pictorial and sculptural works, ranging from mediaeval times to the 20th century. Julio Romero de Torres Museum contains a large collection of the works of this Cordoba painter, from his beginnings in 1895 to his later years, when he produced works such as "La chiquita piconera" (“the little coal girl”), painted shortly before his death in 1929.
CALLEJA DE LOS ARQUILLOS. A sidestreet of the popular Calle de Las Cabezas, this alley, whose design is reminiscent of Moslem Cordoba, is crossed by seven small arches (arquillos) where, according to legend, the heads of the seven Lara Infantes were hung.These Christian nobles are reputed to have been betrayed by individuals close to their own family and fallen into the hands of the Moslems, who decapitated them and brought their heads as trophies to Cordoba on the ends of lances, where they were displayed on each of the street’s seven arches as a warning to other Christians.
HOUSE OF THE MARQUIS OF CARPIO. In the Calle de San Fernando street, also known as Calle de la Feria, stands one façade of the manor house which belonged to the Marquis of Carpio, on the same spot once occupied by a mediaeval wall which divided Cordoba into two separate districts: La Medina and La Ajerquia or “eastern area”.
EL POTRO SQUARE. One of Cordoba’s best-known and most traditional spots since time immemorial; it appears in the works of such illustrious authors as Cervantes, Mateo Aleman and Quevedo. Some of the square’s houses date back to the 15th century, and its design is typically Renaissance, although its current layout is the result of 17th-century urban renovation. The famous El Potro Fountain was installed in 1577, though it originally occupied a different part of the square to the one in which it now stands. For many years it was the scene of cattle fairs and a popular spot for traders and merchants from all corners of Andalusia, which explains the abundance of inns and restaurants once found here, such La Espada, La Herradura, La Madera or El Potro, of which only the latter still remains. Today it is an essential port of call for the visitor to Cordoba, as in addition to the square’s own merits, it is also home to two important museums: the Fine Arts and Julio Romero de Torres Museums.
CORDOBA PATIOS. Each year, when spring arrives, a cry is heard in every corner of the city: "Traveller with the good fortune to be visiting Cordoba, this month of May you are invited to enjoy the hospitality of the people of Cordoba, who will open the doors of their houses so that you may share the overwhelming floral harmony of their patios”. If a stroll through the streets of Cordoba at any time of year enables us to appreciate the unusual architecture that characterises the patios of this unique city, part of Humanity’s Heritage, then it is surely in May that we find it at the height of its splendour.
SYNAGOGUE. Built in 1315 under the Christian rule of King Alfonso XI during a period in which the Jewish community in Cordoba was expanding. The ornamentation of its walls, which reflects Mudejar influences, was hidden for centuries, as following the expulsion of the Jews decreed by the Catholic Monarchs, the building was turned into a hospital for sufferers of rabies. Restored in the 19th century, the building is the last remaining mediaeval synagogue in Andalusia.
ZOCO AND BULLFIGHTING MUSEUM. In an area alive with such famous names as Averroes, Calle Judios and Plaza de Maimonides stands the Casa de las Bulas, a building which is home to the Municipal Handicraft Market (El Zoco), with its shops and workshops specialising in pottery, leather goods, fine gold and silver articles and the renowned Cordoba filigree work, as well as to the Bullfighting Museum (Museo Taurino), which features an interesting collection of articles related with the world of bullfighting and the numerous grand masters of this art that Cordoba has produced.
CALLEJA DE LAS FLORES. A whole world of sensations envelopes the traveller who enters the narrow, winding streets which lead to the Mosque; essentially perfectly intact, they are a shining example of Andalusi aesthetics; whitewashed walls decorated with sweet-smelling, colourful potted plants which lead to small, secluded squares. This is one Cordoba’s most typical and frequently-visited streets: Calleja de las Flores, which also affords a singular view of the tower of the Mosque-Cathedral.
MOSQUE-CATHEDRAL. A sacred location throughout history, this site was initially home to a Roman temple devoted to the god Janus, then a Visigoth basilica, until a mosque was built here in 741, the Moslem construction finally being converted into Cordoba Cathedral well into the 13th century. In fact, the temple was shared by Christians and Moslems until the time of Abderrahman I (756-788), an emir who bought exclusive rights from the Christians in order to build the finest mosque in Al-Andalus. This mosque was subsequently enlarged by various Cordoba emirs and caliphs, notably by Abderrahman II (822-852) and, in the 10th century, by Abderrahman III, Alhakem II and Almanzor, vizier of Hixem II, who built eight new naves. During these times of splendour, the temple had over one thousand columns, which supported the series of multicoloured arches for which this architectural masterpiece is so renowned. The Cathedral, whose bell tower encompasses the minaret of the old mosque, was built in the 16th century (the early Christian conquerors did not want to spoil the magnificent Moslem temple and merely adapted it to their own liturgy) and the first quarter of the 17th century, and, save for a few baroque touches added in the latter of these two periods, is largely Renaissance in style.
CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION CENTRE. Located in the building once occupied by St. Sebastian’s Hospital. Built in the 16th century under the direction of Hernan Ruiz I, its style is known as “humanist Gothic”, and its façade features a door combining Gothic and plateresque elements which is, artistically speaking, one of the most interesting to be built in Cordoba during this period. In addition to the usual church events held here, a further attraction is the interesting and varied collection of Cordoba handicrafts on display in the Mudejar patio.
THE CHRISTIAN MONARCHS’ FORTRESS. Declared a monument of historical and artistic interest in 1931. Like so many other remarkable locations in Cordoba’s provincial capital, it has been the scene of a wealth of historic events: during the time of the Roman Empire, it was a customs house, a castle occupied by a noble family in the Visigoth era, and a Moslem fortress which, after the city was reconquered by Ferdinand III, was taken over by military and religious personnel. In 1328, King Alfonso XI decided to build a Christian fortress. Henry IV (1454-1475) converted it into a palace, installing baths and gardens in the Andalusi tradition. The Catholic Monarchs resided here during the war with Granada, and it was here that they received the visit of Christopher Columbus. It was home to the Holy Office (better known as the Inquisition), and in the 19th century, it was used as a prison. Now, in stark contrast with the many tragic events which have unfolded within its walls, its attraction is its singular peacefulness, and it is one of the most visited buildings in Cordoba.
BRIDGE GATE. Opposite the Roman bridge and, from Roman times onwards, set in the wall that surrounded the old city centre, there was a gate which has been altered with the passage of time. The gate that we can see today was built on the orders of Philip II in 1571, to monitor the entry into the city of all those who crossed the bridge. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gate still stood alongside the remains of the walls; in 1912 it was left to stand alone and has since then become a type of triumphal arch.
ROMAN BRIDGE. By the 1st century B. C., Cordoba was already an important city, administered by the government of Rome. It was possible to sail along the River Betis (later renamed Guadalquivir by the Arabs) right up to the city gates, and the river could also be crossed by barge; around the middle of the 1st century B. C., the growing traffic of people and merchandise necessitated the building of Cordoba’s first bridge, which, even today, is still referred to as “Roman”. Like so many other monuments in the city, it has witnessed the passing of the Arabs, the arrival of their Christian conquerors and the transition from the old régime to the contemporary age. Halfway along one of its parapets stands a statue of St. Raphael the Archangel, a frequently-seen image in Cordoba city centre.