The amazingly historical city of Cordoba; Spain

Jul - 20 | Add comments.

After about half a century after Andalusia was conquered by the moors, abd ar rahman the first, who was the son of Umayyad who were the caliphs of Damascus. This man was a Berber. This let to the old trading town of Damascus to become one of the most liberal and rich metropolises of the ancient world.

After about six years the Persian murdered his father and all the other member of his family who could come in the way of them and the throne.

Rahman escaped and hid with his mothers Berber tribe in the Atlas Mountains.

He later, from North Africa, took a herd of nomadic horsemen. These who were loyal to him and went to southern Spain. Once he reached Spain, he killed the governor of Cordoba and most of the soldiers there at Seville.

Rahman later took over Cordoba and set up an independent emirate which later became Andalusia. Once rahman took control he, captured the key people involved in the murder of his father and beheaded them, he then embalmed the heads and sent them to Baghdad.

Rahman, though devout Muslim, he permitted religious tolerance. The largely mixed crowd of Arabs, Jews, and Berbers gave rise to a state in which commerce and industry started growing at a rapid pace. Silk weaving became a major industry here.

The tile making industry also flourished. The waste lands were then turned into oriental gardens which later were used as groves for fruits and exotic vegetables.

In fact after the death of rahman, his followers strived to make the province of Cordoba, an economic and religious center of the area. Arabic and Judaic philosophies were studied in great detail by the scholars. Education also reached high levels and religious dogmas which held back researchers were taken out of place. Dissection of dead bodies for research and knowledge was quite prevalent.

Around the tenth century, the city of Cordoba had about three times the population it had today. The place was filled with mosques and beautifully decorated palaces. The concepts of having street lights were found even at that time. Streets were lit up during the nights with fire torches and such other material.

The hospitals here were also equipped with the best available technology of its time. The province had about one hundred and thirteen thousand houses, about eighty schools, about fifty hospitals and a lot of libraries as well. Andulaz was ahead of all other capitals of its time. According to Rosita Von Gandersheim, in her poetry wrote “Cordoba, the luminous jewel of the world, shines over the west”.

The great mosque of mezquita is the most important and most sacred building structure in the andulasan era, according to the Umayyad people. The structure has plush artistic interiors with about eight hundred and fifty six columns and arches shaped like horseshoes.

Lying just close by is the beautiful city of Judeira which had medieval houses and many beautiful inner courtyards. . The walls were artistically tiled. Preserved until today from this city are the Arabic baths and the many synagogues.

Although the town of flowers (medina azhara); in today’s times is completely ruined; this place used to house the fifteen thousand soldiers and many people from the court of rahman. He built this beautifully designed palace accommodation primarily for them.

Once the Roman Catholic king Ferdinand the third captured Cordoba, he enforced the catholic influence in these cities.

Some of the religious architecture that you may visit in the contemporary city of Cordoba to remember its rich history are:

The great mosque of Cordoba:

This great mosque was constructed during the Umayyad period. And this place was converted to a cathedral after the king Ferdinand took over the region.