Cordoba day 2
A day of two halves, let’s say - or maybe more like 70:30. I knew the morning would be busy, and it was. I knew the afternoon would be quiet, and possibly cloudy, and it was. But I only had outline plans for what to do with this time.
The morning was busy because lots of things close after lunch on Sundays (for a local value of lunch, somewhere between 2 and 3.30), and don’t reopen Mondays - and since I am going home on Tuesday, this was my chance. I started with my second Alcazar of the trip.
The Cordoba Alcazar was abandoned quite a long time ago, unlike the one in Seville, so it’s more archaeology and less royal residence. It’s much plainer, but it has a very interesting history (the crusade against Granada was launched from here, so Ferdinand and Isabella were in residence for long periods. The full name is the Alcazar de los Reyes Catolicos, and in general I’d say the interpretation lacks a lot of nuance. They had actual crusader role players for photographs on the battlements, which I probably would have thought fine a few years ago but now pings uncomfortably. But it’s still enjoyable to see how much the Christian monarchs took from the Muslim rulers - although they razed their palace, there are still courtyards, baths and gardens in a very familiar style. And the gardens are utterly beautiful, too. You might think I’d get tired or orange trees, still pools and fountains, bursting flowers, contemplative walkways… but ahahaha nope. Not yet. (I am half considering doing a long walk tomorrow to see *more* patios, but suspect that would be too much.)
My next stop was right outside the Alcazar - and underground. The caliph’s palace was right next to the currently-occupied site - I guess it’s a lovely riverside location on the edge of the city centre and handy for the mosque-cathedral, so no point moving far. The palace has gone, but its bath complex is available as foundations, both the real caliphal 9th century baths (which in turn feel very Roman - cold to hot progression and a hypocaust for heating - but included some of those grisly heir-murders that eventually ended the dynasty. Rotten, to stab someone while he’s in a steam room, I think!), and later slightly more public baths under the Almohads and Umayyads (nothing gruesome reported here). It’s all just bits of brick, tile and stone, but I do love walking a space that fits under the world as we know it.
Then I walked along the riverfront a bit, looking at the Roman bridge, which was the only one till the 1950s (!), and the monument at the near end (a triumphal arch, very Doric. They are keen on Doric round here). I would have liked to cross to the more medieval tower at the other end, but I have better and worse days for vertigo and this was definitely worse - especially as it was getting windy and the bridge sides are low. So, no. I had a coffee on the riverfront instead, and contemplated the strange wetlands in the middle of the river, upstream from the bridge. The Guadalquivir was only navigable to Cordoba even in medieval times, but I wonder whether the bridge makes it easier for such islands to form, or whether it just made bridging the river possible.
I was doing okay for time, so I decided to fit in the third site I’d hoped to do before lunch: the Museo des Bellas Artes, which was back out of the palace area and nearer where I was yesterday. I got there in good time, and I’m very glad I saw the place. It’s a medieval mansion, reused as a hospital, before becoming a gallery, so the building is very interesting. It has (you will be stunned) a lovely courtyard with orange trees and a pool. And the early paintings are intriguing, mostly very local but obviously very influenced by Italian and/or Flemish art. Then lots of joylessly literal counter-reformation productions (yawn, though there was a truly wonderful dark crucifixion scene with an emotional Mary who did get to me; and also a thoroughly petty inscription on another one which said roughly Andrew Didn’t Paint This - it was a commission after a competition, and apparently beating someone else was what really pleased this painter). Some mores cheering 19th century stuff (I loved this apparently very famous painting of oranges), and I was done.
With, still, some time before everything closed. I decided to retrace my steps, and go very briefly into the Jewish quarter. I’ll be there more tomorrow, since several things are open and walking the medieval streets is free any day, but I did want to see the Synagogue, which is municipally-run so keeps local government time. It’s not in current use, and predates the diaspora - the only still-standing example in Andalucia. It’s small and plain outside, but with beautiful mudejar work inside (I guess not mudejar technically, wrong religion, but it looks so similar) and some still-legible Hebrew inscriptions. Well worth seeing, despite the extra site being probably one too many for good sense.
I lunched in a place that seduced me by promising very special aubergines but in the end I didn’t order them - tapas (obvs) of albondigas with almonds and raisins (they do a lot of Arab-influenced cuisine here, which is lush), croquetas filled with ceps and cheese, and my first salmorejo, a local cold soup. It’s usually tomato, which I’d love to have but sometimes includes red peppers which are a Bad Thing for me, so I’ve been avoiding it. This was different - an ajo blanco almond soup with a stripe of basil-spinach soup. It’s a homage to the local football team, but it’s also rich, delicious and with a fresh edge. All good. Plus a glass of wine and water. Plus the free Malaga wine that came with the bill (like madeira or malmsey, and I love those). Twenty Euros with a generous tip included. I love eating like this - it’s so tasty, and you’re not just nibbling, but you also get to taste several nice things without ending up bloated and incapable.
Well. Except today a bit. Maybe it’s the Malaga wine, the fact I came out without a hat (it wa supposed to cloud over, but it was still sunny after lunch), or the five sites I visited pre-lunch, but I was overtaken with a certain Lassitude. Also, lots wasn’t open, and I didn’t really have a plan. I sat by the triumphal arch a bit, feeling dozy and not wanting to go indoors. And then I decided to take City Sightseeing minibus tour, because why not? (The why not is the price, tbh. It supposedly includes another bus tour, but those are only hourly, and two walking tours, neither of which I’m excited about, though I might use the route of one to do it myself.) The buses have open sides and an open roof, for maximum draughtiness, so it’s very airy. The mini-bit is so they can go through bits of the old town. Some of it I’ve walked already, but I did pick up some interesting things about the organisation of the roads, especially medieval triumphal routes, and see some outlying large basilicas which I wouldn’t otherwise have made it into. They pointed out some things like the ‘portillo’ (little gate) between the two walled cities which existed here in the early medieval period, and a very posh nobleman’s house which quietly snuck one of the Western-city wall towers in the fairly recent past to make him a better mansion. Plus we did cross the river, so lovely view and a good look at that bridge tower I didn’t make it to this morning.
I had half intended to get off near my hotel but in the end I wanted to see the rest of the tour so I ended up where I started with a longish walk back to my hotel. I also half intended to pick up the longer, more elusive bus tour at some point. But I didn’t do either. I did walk back via Plaza de la Corredera which is a huge enclosed square with apartments all round and cafes in the middle. It’s rather gorgeous and very loud.
Then I got to my room, and flopped. Entirely. But I feel like I’ve done a fair amount today!
This entry was originally posted at https://bruttimabuoni.dreamwidth.org/929887.html. You can comment here or there as you please!
The morning was busy because lots of things close after lunch on Sundays (for a local value of lunch, somewhere between 2 and 3.30), and don’t reopen Mondays - and since I am going home on Tuesday, this was my chance. I started with my second Alcazar of the trip.
The Cordoba Alcazar was abandoned quite a long time ago, unlike the one in Seville, so it’s more archaeology and less royal residence. It’s much plainer, but it has a very interesting history (the crusade against Granada was launched from here, so Ferdinand and Isabella were in residence for long periods. The full name is the Alcazar de los Reyes Catolicos, and in general I’d say the interpretation lacks a lot of nuance. They had actual crusader role players for photographs on the battlements, which I probably would have thought fine a few years ago but now pings uncomfortably. But it’s still enjoyable to see how much the Christian monarchs took from the Muslim rulers - although they razed their palace, there are still courtyards, baths and gardens in a very familiar style. And the gardens are utterly beautiful, too. You might think I’d get tired or orange trees, still pools and fountains, bursting flowers, contemplative walkways… but ahahaha nope. Not yet. (I am half considering doing a long walk tomorrow to see *more* patios, but suspect that would be too much.)
My next stop was right outside the Alcazar - and underground. The caliph’s palace was right next to the currently-occupied site - I guess it’s a lovely riverside location on the edge of the city centre and handy for the mosque-cathedral, so no point moving far. The palace has gone, but its bath complex is available as foundations, both the real caliphal 9th century baths (which in turn feel very Roman - cold to hot progression and a hypocaust for heating - but included some of those grisly heir-murders that eventually ended the dynasty. Rotten, to stab someone while he’s in a steam room, I think!), and later slightly more public baths under the Almohads and Umayyads (nothing gruesome reported here). It’s all just bits of brick, tile and stone, but I do love walking a space that fits under the world as we know it.
Then I walked along the riverfront a bit, looking at the Roman bridge, which was the only one till the 1950s (!), and the monument at the near end (a triumphal arch, very Doric. They are keen on Doric round here). I would have liked to cross to the more medieval tower at the other end, but I have better and worse days for vertigo and this was definitely worse - especially as it was getting windy and the bridge sides are low. So, no. I had a coffee on the riverfront instead, and contemplated the strange wetlands in the middle of the river, upstream from the bridge. The Guadalquivir was only navigable to Cordoba even in medieval times, but I wonder whether the bridge makes it easier for such islands to form, or whether it just made bridging the river possible.
I was doing okay for time, so I decided to fit in the third site I’d hoped to do before lunch: the Museo des Bellas Artes, which was back out of the palace area and nearer where I was yesterday. I got there in good time, and I’m very glad I saw the place. It’s a medieval mansion, reused as a hospital, before becoming a gallery, so the building is very interesting. It has (you will be stunned) a lovely courtyard with orange trees and a pool. And the early paintings are intriguing, mostly very local but obviously very influenced by Italian and/or Flemish art. Then lots of joylessly literal counter-reformation productions (yawn, though there was a truly wonderful dark crucifixion scene with an emotional Mary who did get to me; and also a thoroughly petty inscription on another one which said roughly Andrew Didn’t Paint This - it was a commission after a competition, and apparently beating someone else was what really pleased this painter). Some mores cheering 19th century stuff (I loved this apparently very famous painting of oranges), and I was done.
With, still, some time before everything closed. I decided to retrace my steps, and go very briefly into the Jewish quarter. I’ll be there more tomorrow, since several things are open and walking the medieval streets is free any day, but I did want to see the Synagogue, which is municipally-run so keeps local government time. It’s not in current use, and predates the diaspora - the only still-standing example in Andalucia. It’s small and plain outside, but with beautiful mudejar work inside (I guess not mudejar technically, wrong religion, but it looks so similar) and some still-legible Hebrew inscriptions. Well worth seeing, despite the extra site being probably one too many for good sense.
I lunched in a place that seduced me by promising very special aubergines but in the end I didn’t order them - tapas (obvs) of albondigas with almonds and raisins (they do a lot of Arab-influenced cuisine here, which is lush), croquetas filled with ceps and cheese, and my first salmorejo, a local cold soup. It’s usually tomato, which I’d love to have but sometimes includes red peppers which are a Bad Thing for me, so I’ve been avoiding it. This was different - an ajo blanco almond soup with a stripe of basil-spinach soup. It’s a homage to the local football team, but it’s also rich, delicious and with a fresh edge. All good. Plus a glass of wine and water. Plus the free Malaga wine that came with the bill (like madeira or malmsey, and I love those). Twenty Euros with a generous tip included. I love eating like this - it’s so tasty, and you’re not just nibbling, but you also get to taste several nice things without ending up bloated and incapable.
Well. Except today a bit. Maybe it’s the Malaga wine, the fact I came out without a hat (it wa supposed to cloud over, but it was still sunny after lunch), or the five sites I visited pre-lunch, but I was overtaken with a certain Lassitude. Also, lots wasn’t open, and I didn’t really have a plan. I sat by the triumphal arch a bit, feeling dozy and not wanting to go indoors. And then I decided to take City Sightseeing minibus tour, because why not? (The why not is the price, tbh. It supposedly includes another bus tour, but those are only hourly, and two walking tours, neither of which I’m excited about, though I might use the route of one to do it myself.) The buses have open sides and an open roof, for maximum draughtiness, so it’s very airy. The mini-bit is so they can go through bits of the old town. Some of it I’ve walked already, but I did pick up some interesting things about the organisation of the roads, especially medieval triumphal routes, and see some outlying large basilicas which I wouldn’t otherwise have made it into. They pointed out some things like the ‘portillo’ (little gate) between the two walled cities which existed here in the early medieval period, and a very posh nobleman’s house which quietly snuck one of the Western-city wall towers in the fairly recent past to make him a better mansion. Plus we did cross the river, so lovely view and a good look at that bridge tower I didn’t make it to this morning.
I had half intended to get off near my hotel but in the end I wanted to see the rest of the tour so I ended up where I started with a longish walk back to my hotel. I also half intended to pick up the longer, more elusive bus tour at some point. But I didn’t do either. I did walk back via Plaza de la Corredera which is a huge enclosed square with apartments all round and cafes in the middle. It’s rather gorgeous and very loud.
Then I got to my room, and flopped. Entirely. But I feel like I’ve done a fair amount today!
This entry was originally posted at https://bruttimabuoni.dreamwidth.org/929887.html. You can comment here or there as you please!