Day 61 – 8 September 2023 – Cordoba, Espana

Away at 8.00 am for a day trip to Cordoba, around 130 kilometres from Seville. The sun is just rising over the Seville airport as we leave the city & the traffic is flowing easily, everyone is going into the city for work. We pass a huge shiny post sticking up, Chad tells us it is the Fuentes de Andalucía power station called Gemasolar & uses molten salt as the energy storage system. The tower is 140 metres high & is surrounded by concentric rings of mirrors that direct sunlight onto the tower. The power system can supply power to 27,500 homes & was completed in 2011. The tower is blindingly bright with all of the concentrated sunlight shining onto the upper reaches of it.

We pass through lots of farmland, mainly olives, plus lots of ploughed fields & freshly harvested wheat fields. It takes around an hour & a half to reach Cordoba & the bus pulls up close to the Roman Bridge. This is called the Roman Bridge, however, that bridge was built in the 1^st Century BC & the current bridge is several reconstructions later, the Moors, the Christians, etc. with the latest reconstruction in 2008. Two thousand years after the first bridge being built on the site, the bridge is now pedestrian only. At either end of the bridge are defensive towers, built during the Middle Ages then reconstructed in the 16^th Century. Slightly downstream is the ruins of another bridge or dam structure, from the waterwheel on one end, I am guessing it was a weir to build a head of water to drive water wheels to grind grain for flour.

The very large building in front of us is the church, formerly the Mezquita. Our local guide points out to us the parts that are still obviously Moorish, including a huge doorway with a horseshoe shape design above the door surrounded by Islamic designs. The Romans were originally building here, then the Visigoths built a church on this site, then the Moors built their first mosque here in 786 that was extended by further Muslim rulers in the ensuing centuries. The Muslims re-purposed the old Roman stone columns & finials to decorate the tops of the columns. Then when the Christians conquered the city in 1236 they used the mosque as a church before modifying the mosque in the 1500s by building a Roman Catholic church inside the mosque.

Inside the mosque/church is amazing, the pink & white striped arches & the rows of columns, all in geometric patterns, is stunning, we have never seen anything like it previously. The Roman Catholic church built inside the mosque is beautiful as well, with all the usual extravagances that are put inside Cathedrals. The choir stalls, the organ, the ceilings, all stunning.

The prayer chapel for the mosque is still there as well, the first time I have seen two different religion sites inside the one building. The Islamist prayer chapel is decorated with Arabic inscriptions & the ceiling looks stunning as well. The mosque is still huge inside, even with the Christian church & chapels inside it. The geometric patterns, arches, straight lines & sheer size of this mosque challenges our senses, it is stunningly beautiful.

Afterwards our local guide takes us a on a walk through the narrow back streets of old Cordoba. Some of these narrow streets are lined with blue flower pots hanging on walls, so pretty. There are small courtyards she takes us into, small shops we walk through, houses we peek into as the doors are open. Everywhere is so clean & well kept, such a beautiful old city. After the tour we wander on our own for a while, exploring & enjoying the sights of a town, culture & lifestyle so different to ours.

The bus trip back to Seville was pleasant, enjoying the farm scenery again plus seeing the giant solar tower with its blinding light. Tonight in Seville we are treated to a Flamenco dance lesson & performance at the Triana Flamenco School & Theatre. Firstly we are introduced to Flamenco & all the facets of the dance. A young lady explains it all to us, she is great, teaching us how to clap, stamp our feet & move our fingers, wrists & arms in the style of Flamenco. It is a lot of laughs as we all show how incompetent & uncoordinated we all are. Afterwards we are treated to nibbles & a drink before being treated to a Flamenco dance performance.

Flamenco dance is exhausting to watch & must be so exhausting to dance, all of the fast feet movement, the hand movement, the twirling & swirling. The woman & man dancing are lathered in sweat, it is glistening on them. The two singers & the guitar player provide a fantastic backdrop to the dance, the performance is amazing and we are all exhausted at the finish. Another great day.