There it is, the white dove of Cordoba!

Córdoba [korðoβa] is an ancient city in Andalusia, the capital of the province of Córdoba. Located on the slope of the spur of the Sierra Morena on the right bank of the Guadalquivir in a fertile and very hot terrain. Cordova was founded during the reign of Rome.

Today Cordoba is a modern city of medium size with a population of 321 thousand people. In the Old City there are many historical monuments of the heyday of the capital of the Cordoba Caliphate, which occupied almost the entire Iberian Peninsula.

Early in the morning we arrived in Cordoba. First of all I wanted to visit Mesquita. The fact is that after visiting Alambri in Granada, the level of respect for the Arab culture, for their knowledge and skills - went off scale. Therefore, I really wanted to touch this culture once more, especially in Cordoba, there was a hall of 1000 columns, a very famous architectural and cultural object of Arab culture. We went there.

In front of the entrance to the mosque itself, in the hall of thousands of columns, there is a small fountain and an old tree grows nearby. The tree is so picturesque! It's old, everything is leaky, wide and very beautiful! A little off topic, but here - I saw it and I can not tear myself away ...

But, let's back to the sights of Cordoba.

The Cordoba Cathedral Mosque (Mesquita) is a Roman Catholic cathedral (formerly the mosque, once the largest in Europe).

The construction of the Mesquite began in about 600, and it was built as the Visigothic church of Vikenty the Saragossa. Later it became a mosque (initially the "Al-Jama Mosque"), it was altered, then it became a mosque again. The original building did not survive to this day: in 711 it was destroyed. In 784, Abd al-Rahman I built a mosque in the veneration of his wife. The land was purchased by the emir from previous owners. The mosque was part of the chambers of his palace. In 1236 Cordoba was recaptured from the Moors by King Ferdinand III of Castile, and the mosque was re-consecrated to the Christian church.

The building of the mosque covers an area of ​​180 x 130 meters. Its huge inner hall with numerous rows of columns reaches a height of 11.5 meters and creates an exciting impression of boundlessness. The height of the columns of the mosque is just over three meters, but it is visually enlarged by a complex system of two-tiered arches lined with stripes in two colors: reddish-brown and white. The endless repetition of the arches creates a sense of boundless space that smoothly flows into the endless pattern of the ornament that adorns the walls of the mosque.

The ceiling of the mosque is made of valuable wood. After the construction of the mosque, the building had 19 naves going from the east to the west (preserved to the present day), 30 from the north to the south, 21 gates and 1293 columns inside, of which a little more than 800 were preserved. On the site of the mosque in ancient Roman times there was a temple Janus, the columns of which were used in the construction of the mosque. Another 114 columns were sent by Emperor Leo from Byzantium in the VIII century.

The spectacle is amazing ... Walking, in the coolness, between the columns, you marvel, the visual effects that occur when mixing the patterns of columns among themselves. This is magic.

And the singularity of this architecture adds an effect. When you get used to the temple architecture of Russia or Europe, such a spectacle is extremely surprising and exciting.

In addition to the columns, there were some mechanisms inside. I think this is a printing press.
Immediately next to it were exhibited old books.

In the street the sun rose to the zenith and through the small windows the bright daylight penetrated the inside. Very beautiful!

We walked around the perimeter of Mesquite, marveling at the size and strength of the walls. And what a powerful gate!

On the large stone bridge we crossed the Guadalquivir into the city. Narrow streets, white houses, shadows ... Okay. And time is already lunch ... It means - it's time to sleep!
A long-term habit with the siesta has smoothed out local sellers. A dog is sleeping nearby. It's funny!

But there are not only the sleeping inhabitants of Cordoba. Very colorful coachman!

Walking around Cardoba was not great, but emotionally, it tired us nicely. This city is worth a visit!