Sevilla, Cadiz & Cordoba

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Our personal tour guides Stephen and Christine who live in nearby Coin took us on a 4 day tour which included Sevilla and Cadiz.

Sevilla has many beautiful Plazas, outdoor seating areas. and seemed a little less hectic than Madrid. In some ways I would compare it to Melbourne, with Sydney as Madrid.

Apparently it is stiflingly hot in summer.

Cadiz is well positioned on the coast and played an important role in Spain's era as a dominant naval power until Drake and the British navy took over.

We had one of our most enjoyable meals here, fish called John Dory or Peter's Fish...it used to be available in Sydney but we have not had it for many years.

Marlene celebrated her birthday in Malaga this year and recalled that she has not had a birthday in Canada since 2001.



We took the high speed train to Cordoba and back. 135km in 55 minutes. 2 nights there in the wonderful El Conquistador Hotel which was perfectly situated in the old town, walking distance to everything we wanted to see.

There are 3 panoramic pics at the beginning of this blog; they scroll through slowly.

The first is taken in the Plaza de Espana, Sevilla. The second is of Cadiz harbour front and fortress. Finally, the ruins of the Caliphate city of Medina Azahara on the outskirts of Cordoba.

Our last excursion of the Spanish leg comes next week when we head off to Tangier (Morocco), Algeciras and Gibraltar. We saved a few sights in Malaga until our final week here at the beginning of March.

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Photos

Sevilla
the Guadalquivir, one of Spain's longest runs through the city. This taken from the ancient Torre del Oro where the treasure ships returning from the Americas with all of their plunder, stored the gold to be divvied up later.

Torre del Oro
There is also a Torre de la Plata, or Silver Tower.

Cathedral de Sevilla
If you thought the previous 5 cathedrals were impressive, this is the biggest and best in Spain and in the top 3 in the world...packed with overwhelming treasures, splendor and history.

Orange Garden
A beautiful feature of this cathedral is an orange garden enclosed in a courtyard. It is a reminder of the age when this was the site of a mosque and the area was used for bathing before entering to worship.

The Nave
Massive...obviously built to impress and overwhelm....which it achieved! Like most Spanish cathedrals it was built over a Moorish mosque from the 11th century.

Tomb of Christopher Columbus
Apparently his remains travelled almost as much as he did...once in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, then back to Seville from where he began his voyage of 1492.

Cathedral treasures
A room as large as a school gym packed with gold, silver and precious stones...no mortgages on this cathedral!

Columbus monument
One of many of this favourite son of Sevilla, although he was Italian.....here with Christine and Stephen.

Cadiz Harbour, low tide.
This city has seen many battles ....it is strategically located in the south of Spain with good access to the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

the rain cleared..
...then these beautiful cumulus clouds appeared to be lifting this ship/wind vane.

in Cadiz
a very old fig tree with 3 younger tourists.

top seafood
3 of us had John Dory, perfectly cooked, in this very attractive restaurant.

El torro!
This ad for Torres wines needs no further explanation...we have seen many of them on our travels around Spain.

The Rock
Gibraltar, near Algeciras, where we plan to visit later this month.

Mezquita, Cordoba
Just when we thought we'd seen the best cathedral/mosque Spain has to offer...the Mezquita tops the lot! First a Visigoth/Christian church, a mosque was begun on the site in 785 and shared with Christians who continued to worship there. It had several additions to the mosque as the Muslim population grew over the 600 years of their dominance in Cordoba. Then, amazingly, after the Christian reconquest in the late 12thC, naves and chapels were built in the Catholic style within the mosque, instead of pulling it down as was done elsewhere. Then between 1600 and 1750 a complete cathedral was constructed within the mosque, preserving most of its beauty.

Inside the Mesquita
A Catholic chapel contained within the Muslim mosque.

Catholic nave
Contained within the mosque. For fans of architecture (Pat!) it has elements of Moorish, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance design. It took 80 years to complete.

Muslim words of prayer
In gold leaf, remarkably not looted or destroyed in the 800+ years since the reconquest.

The Mesquita at night.
Original walls from 785.
No, they are not alien shadows on the wall.

Roman bridge, 1st C AD
Of course the Romans were here They made Cordoba their capital city in Iberia, as did the Moors who followed later. It once had a population of 1 million, now 300 00.

Roman mosaic of Medusa
carefully preserved from a Roman villa from the 1st C AD.

Comments

[Stephen Cole]

Al Andaluz
Great blog - in which you have really done justice to the five major cities of Al Andaluz the moorish name for modern Andalucia. All five cities Malaga, Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada and Cadiz have this mix of ancient moorish, ancient spanish and then a modern european overlay.

[Tim Wilson]

Wow.....
that was a great instalment in your discovery of Spain. I really enjoyed your commentary.

[Lorraine Runstedler]

Following You
Wow - beautiful pictures - Hey Marlene Do you care that you have not celebrated your B'Day in Canada for all those years(ha) - NOT! just to let you know I am seeing green grass finally - Spring is coming - you can come home soon -xo