1. Acquire a glass of wine. I prefer red (Vino tinto de rioja if we're going to be super specific), but whatever floats your boat is fine
2. Listen to this guy's youtube channel of accordion music for ambiance. People are always playing the accordion on the streets here and I can't get over how cool it is. The past couple nights have had a full or close to full moon, and some of the accordion players who have futures as entrepreneurs have set up a telescope and charged a euro to anyone who wanted to look at the moon. Genius.
3. Pretend you're in Spain. Got it? Alright.
San Rafael (the Archangel), protector of Cordoba. 65% (or so our guide claimed) of the kids in Cordoba are named Rafael or Rafaela
The roman bridge over the river leading to Cordoba
La Catedral/Mezquita de Cordoba ( I'll explain later)
Other side of the bridge. Nothing makes you feel like a conquering Roman army more than walking over a thousand year old bridge and under an arch.
Cordoba is famous for it's red and white arches. Arcas Herraduras (horseshoe arches), a glaring clue that a building is of Islamic origin
Outside of the Mezquita (Mosque). Built in the year 1000, 3rd largest mosque in the world after Casablanca and Mecca. They just don't build buildings like this anymore. . .
The Alminar of the mosque, converted into a bell tower
La Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos. Very close (like a ten minute walk) from the Mezquita- Fortress/palace (Al Qasar is "the palace" in Arabic) of Fernando y Isabel, site where Columbus proposed his voyage that would result in the discovery of the new world, prison of Boabdil (the last califa of Granada) during the Reconquista.
Forgive the nerdiness that's about to come out, but this statue belongs in Lord of the Rings.
From the tower.
The sun was so bright.. .
The Grand Mosaic, one of the largest and oldest in the world. Of course I had to touch it. . . .
Indiana Jones worthy
Thousand year old designs. No big deal.
The gardens and baths of the palace were beautiful!
Climbing ancient monuments and being the nightmare of all tour guides since '92.
Inside the Mezquita. Alright. History lesson time: The mosque was started in 600, finished around 1000 (it's HUGE, and crazy intricate, so 400 years to build seems pretty quick to me) in 1236 or so, Ferdinand and Isabel "freed" Cordoba from Islamic rule (the Umayyads from Damascus who controlled Al Andalus) and decided as a display of power to stick a Catholic Cathedral in the center of one of the most important mosques of all Islam. So they did. But luckily they left most of the mosque intact. Muslims are still banned from praying in the mosque by order of the Catholic Church, mass is celebrated in it daily, and it's technically called La Catedral de Cordoba. But it's actually a mosque. with a cathedral inside. Confused yet?
Whoops. These pictures are in some random order that would drive any librarian nuts, so we'll jump away from the mosque/cathedral real quick and over here to the Arab Baths we visited. Beautiful architecture, beautiful tiled pools (I didn't take any pictures in the actual bathhouse) of hot, cold, and warm water, heavy perfumes everywhere of Orange, Amber, Lavender, and Rose, stupor inducing tea, music, and massages with scented oil (I went for Amber- supposedly it'll bring me love and wealth. . . I'm holding them to that guarantee). An incredibly relaxing experience. If you ever have the chance- GO.
Annnnd we're back in the Mosque. I'm still obsessed with doorways and windows, and this place had some doozies.
A Christian altar. The mosque is laid out sort of like a giant square with a patio in the middle full of orange trees, and the mosque around it. It looks impressive on the outside, but the inside. . . . I've never seen anything like it, and I don't think I will ever again see anything like it. INCREDIBLE. There are niches all around, and most of them have been adapted into Christian altars etc. The amount of gold and jewels and carvings put every pirates cove I've seen in movies to shame.
The ceiling. Hand carve, hand painted.
I have a real knack for looking as awkward as possible. So, here's the first in a series we'll call "Angie Standing Awkwardly at Famous Historical Site". It's going to be a long series.
Another Christian altar
The arches. . . all double arches, all of which were built so well that they withstood the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon. 1030 columns in the mosque (numerology is incredibly important in Islam. prime numbers and certain numbers have great meaning and reappear everywhere). The capitals (the tops of the columns where the decorations are) are all reappropriated (my freshman art history professor's FAVORITE word, which Microsoft Word still claims doesn't exist. . . .who's right? who knows, but for now I'll keep using it) from Greek and Roman ruins.
The back wall of the Cathedral, which is inside the mosque
Light from the stained glass window. It was like a disco ball. A really really ancient and expensive disco ball.
The Mihrab (or the center part of it at least). The Mihrab is the most important part of the mosque, it houses the Qibbla (I'm sure that is spelled wrong) and ALWAYS faces towards Mecca. (Fun fact, Catholic churches are built to face East, the direction the sun rises, associated with resurrection and light and Christ). However, they screwed this one up (just one of the most important mosques outside of Mecca, no pressure or anything) and it's a little bit off. But it is breathtakingly gorgeous. It is built out of mosaics, ivory, ceramics, and crystals so it literally sparkles.
Close up of the script and designs.
The ceiling of the center of the Mihrab. I cant even fathom how it was built or how long it took
and the Cathedral. My camera died when I got to the cathedral (classic), so I didn't get to take many pictures, but here is the altar, and google has thousands of pictures of it. It's stunning. No expense was spared. Ferdinand and Isabel knew that they needed to display their power through wealth and sheer gaudiness, and boy did they ever step up their game for this one. Gold, paintings, statues of saints, silver, chandeliers, carvings, a massive pipe organ, chairs imported from Cuba (spanish colony at the time), a marble altar and chair, candlesticks, tombs of bishops, relics (the head of Saint Ursula actually ha), you name it, it's here. If you ever go to Spain- go to Cordoba. I have never been so in awe of a building before.
Just kidding. . . .I found more pictures from the Cathedral. Stained glass. . .
and it's partner
The pipe organ
This is actually in another niche outside the cathedral in the mosque. It's a bit confusing to separate the two, as there are no walls or anything, it's just the very center part of the mosque is designated as the cathedral. Anyhow, this is Ferdinand, looking all pious and distinctly different from his regal King statue in the Alcazar
the altar
to hold the Eucharist. . . in style. . . .
carvings, that's San Rafael on top, and on the other side is Saint Peter, guarding the gates to the cathedral.
I've been meaning to put up all the pictures of the street art. The streets are full of amazing murals, these are only a few of the ones along my walk to school in the morning. I will definitely be adding more as I take more pictures
The colors. . . .
This one is probably my favorite, the quote on it says "Cuando no podría encontrar un repuesto, yo decidi cambiar mi pregunta", "When I couldn't find an answer, I decided to change my question". Profound and amazingly beautiful? I'll take it!
This one is in the Albaicin (Albayzin? Albaycin? There are about 50 ways to spell it as far as I can tell). Vandalism, or art? Personally, I think it's fantastic.
The Muslim influence on the art and architecture is incredible, I will be bringing back a suitcase FULL of mosaics and ceramic designs.
Plaza de San Nicolas! A bit of a walk up through the Albaycin to get there, but absolutely worth it! According to Bill Clinton, it's the best sunrise he's ever seen. I'll have to check it out one morning, I mean, who could doubt Bill's taste?;)
Everyone on the Alhambra was taking pictures in our direction, so I decided to return the favor. . . muahaha
The Sierra Nevadas look like paradise
and again. . . Spring is fast approaching, and I have been assured that in a few weeks these hills will be covered in white flowers from the almond trees. I can't imagine it being prettier than it is now, but I can't wait to see it!
A vendor made Nicola a ring right in front of us, he probably really enjoyed how impressed we were with his skills. This is outside the mosque in the Albaycin, the Albaycin is the oldest and hence traditionally the most heavily Muslim influenced area of Granada. Los Reyes Catolicos (Ferdinand and Isabel) did a pretty solid job of wiping out all the mosques and converting/expelling/executing most of the muslims, but there is still a lot of influence. We couldn't go inside the mosque, but the outside was stunning.
The Albaycin has so many amazing views. This is the Cathedral and the city from one of the streets.
A fiesta! I wanted to join :)
Another view of the city. I love the tile roofs and rooftop patios so much!
A lantern shop! I wanted to buy them all
But really, how cool is this? Too bad I don't think they'd ship well.
Some more ceramics/geometric designs. Islam forbids the use of figures in their art (it's considered idolatry to have pictures of humans, animals appear occasionally but not often) so instead they have amazingly intricate vegetal and geometric designs. SO beautiful.
What better way to end our trip through the Albaycin than with some sangria at an outdoor cafe?! Missing my family and friends, but feeling so very very lucky to be in Spain today.
Planting flowers
The doors and gates are all so intricate!
Those designs. . . . and colors. . . .ahhh
The minaret of the mosque, from which the call to prayer is sung. If you've never heard how breathtakingly beautiful this can be, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUHDYlJHaOQ . I could listen for hours. I wish that I had the time to take an Islamic culture class while here.
More doors. I guess you could say I like them. . .
A monastery in the Albaycin, featuring a nice Gothic facade (yea, that's right, I remember about 12% of my art history class) built by Los Reyes Catolicos and featuring the symbols of Castille (Isabel) and Aragon (Fernando). The two united through marriage the most powerful medieval kingdoms and conquered Granada and Navarro (Basque country) to make the first united Spain. Since Granada was a Muslim caliphate previously, the Pope bestowed upon them the title of "Los Reyes Catolicos", "The Catholic Monarchs" for their work in spreading Catholicism. A nice little pat on the back for the "great" idea of the Inquisition. Good one.
