Cordoba

While the rest of Europe was languishing in the Dark Ages, Cordoba in Andalucia thrived.

In the 11th century, Cordoba was one of the most important capitals in Europe

People of the most diverse cultures and religions - Jews, Muslims and Christians - who lived and worked peacefully together.

Important philosophers, scientists and artists emerged from this awe inspiring city. It was a center of medicine, science, language, translation, art and manuscripts. The scholars of Andalusia - Christian, Muslim and Jew - worked together to produce a unique society that became a safeguard of learning for the Greeks and Romans.

The Islamic culture of al-Andalus was adopted by Christians and Jews living in the kingdom. This culture continued even after the Moorish caliphate fell to Catholic rule.

The capital of this enlightened empire, until its fall in 1236, was Cordoba.

As the capital of the most powerful kingdom in Islam, Cordoba contained more than half a million people, thousands of mosques, tens of thousands of shops and libraries boasting hundreds of thousands of volumes. Its luxury goods were coveted all over Europe.

The palaces and baths of Cordoba were renowned for their opulence and the city was the first in Europe to install street lighting. Students and merchants visited from Europe, Africa and Asia and this cosmopolitan city dominated Andalusia for three centuries.

Cordoba's charm, many centuries later, is still largely tied to its Moorish and Arab past. Cordoba has a beauty and a rhythm of its own - part Moorish, part Gypsy and part Spanish.

As you wander down its picturesque and evocative streets in the restored heart of Cordoba - one of the largest medieval quarters in Europe - it is not difficult to imagine the days when Cordoba was one of the most important cities on the European map. Its citizens included Muslim scientist and philosopher Averroes and Jewish philosopher and physician Maimonedes (whose synagogue still stands).

The Great Mosque - (partly destroyed to construct a large cathedral inside) is one of the world's best known pieces of religious architecture. It is a vast forest of hundreds of delicate marble columns and elegant arches. Its mihrab - the niche which denotes the direction of Mecca - is a brilliant and rich composition of mosaics sent as a gift by the Emperor of Byzantium.

Cordoba's large Juderia has been recently restored and is now filled with charming shops and cafes. For those interested in Jewish heritage, the tiny jewel-like medieval synagogue (the one in which Maimonedes prayed) is one of only three remaining synagogues in Spain from before the Expulsion of 1492.

Medinat az-Zahara was a 10th century palace of unimaginable luxury outside Cordoba. Its opulence awed and inspred its visitors.

One chronicler records an ambassador being taken the eight kilometers from Cordoba to Medinat al-Zahara, finding his path covered in carpets from one end to the other and lined with maidens holding parasols and refreshments. Another chronicler wrote of crystal columns and domes and of walls made of falling water. Another fountain was made of flowing mercury - a liquid mirror.

Although only a few ruins remain (its columns were carried as far away as Marrakech), it is worth the short trip (don't expect the carpet and parasols though!).

Cordoba is also very lively town steeped in Andalucian tradition; a town of Flamenco, Bull fighting and undoubtedly one of the most attractive destinations in southern Spain.