Overview
Once one of the largest and most cultured cities in the world under the caliphate, Cordoba is now a quieter Andalusian town whose past survives in its monuments. At its heart stands the Mezquita, a vast forest of striped arches with a Renaissance cathedral built inside it, a World Heritage site like the old town around it. The whitewashed lanes of the former Jewish quarter, hung with flowers, are at their best in the May patio festival, and the summer heat here is among Spain’s fiercest.
Highlights
The Mezquita-Catedral, with its hundreds of red-and-white arches and the cathedral rising from their midst, is one of the world’s most remarkable buildings. The Jewish quarter’s lanes lead to the synagogue and the flowered patios that the city opens to visitors each May. The Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir and the Alcázar gardens complete a day in the old caliphal capital.