The Mosque-Cathedral, in short
Begun as the Great Mosque in 785, a cathedral since 1236, and the reason almost everyone comes. It has its own page, including the two things worth knowing before arriving: book ahead, and there is a free entry window early on weekday and Saturday mornings, which is the quietest the building ever is.
The Alcázar
The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos was begun in 1328 under Alfonso XI. Columbus had his first audience with Isabella and Ferdinand here, in 1486 or 1487 — they put him on a retainer and did not fund the voyage until Granada had fallen. The building then served as a headquarters of the Inquisition from 1482 for some three centuries, and as a civil prison from 1821. Its gardens and water terraces are the reason most people visit, and they are best late in the day.
On the Inquisition, older accounts say it was founded by Isabella in 1492. It was authorised by papal bull in 1478, at the request of both monarchs, with the first inquisitors appointed in 1480. What happened in 1492 was the fall of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews — two different things, routinely collapsed into one.
The Judería
The old Jewish quarter behind the mosque is a warren of lanes, patios and a good many places to eat. It is also where the coach parties go, so it rewards early mornings and evenings.
- The synagogue was completed in 1315, is no longer in religious use, and reopened as a monument in 1985. It is one of only three medieval synagogues surviving in Spain, and now the second most visited site in Andalucia after the Alhambra. Its hours have been cut back for conservation and a visitor centre is in progress, so they are worth checking.
- The statue of Maimonides — born here in 1138 — stands outdoors in the Plaza de Tiberíades nearby, not inside the synagogue as older accounts place it.
The rest of it
- The Roman Bridge is Roman in origin, from the first century BC, though most of what stands is the eighth-century Arab rebuild and later work — only two of its arches are original. It has been pedestrian-only since 2004, and it is the best approach to the city on foot.
- The Torre de la Calahorra at its far end is of Islamic origin; a third tower was added around 1369, giving it its present shape. It later held foreign troops, served as a typhus quarantine and then as a girls' school. It houses a museum of al-Andalus, whose opening hours are not reliably published anywhere — ring ahead.
- The Palacio de Viana is an aristocratic town house, not a royal palace as older accounts call it, and its twelve patios are its point. The house itself is seen only on a guided tour; the patios can be walked with a map.
- The Museo de Bellas Artes in the Plaza del Potro holds Murillo, Zurbarán and Valdés Leal. The Goya that older accounts list does not appear in the museum's own holdings. The colt fountain in the square dates from 1577, not 1557, and the colt itself was added a century later.
- The Roman temple on Calle Capitulanes, found during building work in the 1950s, is the one substantial reminder that Cordoba was a Roman provincial capital before it was anything else. It is viewed from the street.
Two things outside the city
- Medina Azahara, the ruined palace-city of Abd al-Rahman III some six kilometres west, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018 — too late for any older account to mention. It was built from about 936, sacked barely seventy years later, and lost until the twentieth century; perhaps a tenth of it has been excavated. There is a museum and reception centre, and the practical catch is that private cars cannot drive to the site: the last stretch is by shuttle from the visitor centre.
- The patios festival in May, when private courtyards open to the public, was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2012. It is the festival that carries the listing rather than the patios themselves. Rooms in that fortnight go early.
Position
Cordoba is on the high-speed line and well under an hour from Seville, which is why most people treat it as a day out — though the Mezquita at opening time, and the old town after the coaches leave, are both arguments for staying the night. The historic centre has been a UNESCO site since 1984, extended in 1994 to the whole old town. General practicalities for the region are on the Andalucia page.