Tombs and Mosques and Hiking, Oh My! (Córdoba and Carmona)
Another catch-up post! (Hence the cheesy title of this post, haha. Sorry!) Now that classes have started, I find that I don’t have as much time to post about things right away. However, here’s a recap of some of the excursions I took over the last two weekends. The first was a day trip to Carmona, a small town about thirty minutes northeast of Seville. The second was to Córdoba, one of Spain’s major tourist destinations (and a place I was extremely excited to visit), which is about an hour and a half away from Seville. The third and final excursion was a hiking day trip to the Parque Natural Sierra Norte de Sevilla (the same place I went for the Immersion Weekend), only this time we were in an area known as the Cerro del Hierro (literally: “Iron Hill”) which historically was famous for mining since the time of the Romans. My favorite of the three trips was definitely Córdoba (even though it was extremely rainy!), since the Mezquita was something I had wanted to see ever since it started popping up in my Spanish textbooks back in high school. However, the other trips were also very enjoyable, as it’s fun to see small towns and some of the more rural areas in this part of the country.
Probably the most interesting part of visiting Carmona was seeing the ruins of a Roman necropolis (a cemetery!). The town of Carmona is placed on a hill, which made it a strategic location for the Romans. Just outside of the town, in 1885, the ruins of an amphitheater and necropolis were discovered. The Conjunto Arqueológico de Carmona has a small museum with statues and other artifacts that have been found, but the highlight of the visit was getting to go underground inside of a tomb. Yep! That’s right!
In groups of about four or five people, we climbed down the ladder and into the tiny tomb. At the point in history when the necropolis was built, the Romans were fond of using cremation for burial rituals, so instead of places for coffins in the tomb, there were small shelves for urns.
We also visited a much larger mausoleum, which our guide told us was for wealthier families. Once underground, but now open-air, this mausoleum was designed much like Roman households with a column-supported patio and pool of water in the center.
In the smaller side rooms, there are some incredibly well-preserved murals. (In fact, they’re considered to be some of the best-preserved in Spain. My Arte Español professor even mentioned them in a lecture the other day!) One of the paintings depicts a woman, and our guide had us note her hairstyle, saying that it actually seemed to be pretty similar to some hairstyles worn by Spanish women today. He then used me as an example, and said my hairstyle that day was just like the woman’s in the mural! (I thought that was hilarious. Though I always knew I had a “classic” style. haha.)
We then walked into the town itself. After having read many guide books describing the “white hill towns of Spain”, it was fun to see one in real life. Compared to Seville, it was very quiet, so it was really funny watching the locals’ expressions at seeing this big group of twenty or so loud, American college students parading through the town.
We saw the Parroquia San Pedro, one of the town’s main churches. The church’s steeple looks like a smaller version of the Giralda in Seville. I learned that apparently this is a common practice in small pueblos around Andalucía: to make their own versions of the Giralda, but on a smaller scale and with a local flair.
We then visited the remains of the Alcazar and Puerta de Sevilla. This former fort held prisoners and defended the town, but today it houses a tourism office and serves as an excellent viewpoint!
We stopped for a coffee break at the Plaza de Abastos, and then went to the Parador de Carmona. I learned that Paradores are luxury (read: expensive) hotels that are built inside renovated castles and other kinds of old buildings. Oftentimes companies will pay the city to let them take over the properties and spruce them up, which Spanish cities like because it takes care of upkeep and draws in (wealthy) tourists. We walked through the hotel lobby to get a glimpse of the high life, and then out to the balcony to get a view of the countryside, as this Parador is situated on the edge of a cliff.
The next day was the day trip to Córdoba! This is one of the cities on my “List of Places I HAVE to Visit While I’m in Spain”. Ever since my high school Spanish textbooks started including pictures of the Mezquita de Córdoba, it became a place I was dying to visit.
Córdoba was once the capital of the Muslim empire. Under Muslim rule, in many cities like Córdoba, people were allowed to practice whatever religion they chose. Córdoba is known as the “city of three cultures”, because three cultural groups lived and worshipped there in peace: Muslims, Christians, and Jews. In fact, our tour guide told us that at one point, the Mezquita was used as a place of worship for people of all three religious traditions: Muslims used it on Fridays, Jewish people on Saturdays, and Christians on Sundays. The beginning part of our day trip to Córdoba was a guided tour, where we visited one famous location for each of the three cultures: the Mezquita (Islam), the Córdoba Synagogue (Judaism), and the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (Christianity).
We entered the city by crossing the Roman Bridge, built in the 1st century BC as part of the Via Augusta, a road which connected Cádiz (southwestern Spain) to Girona (northeastern Spain). At the halfway point on the bridge, there is a statue dedicated to the archangel San Rafael, the patron saint of Córdoba, who is believed to have protected the city from the Plague.
We then went straight to the Mezquita. Today known as the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, the building has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The spot was originally a Roman temple dedicated to Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions. It was then a Christian church. After the Muslims conquered the Visigoths in that area, construction of the mosque as it is today began in 784.
The most iconic architectural features of the Mezquita are the red and yellow arches. The architectural design of the building is incredibly elaborate, and in order to support the building’s enormous size and open layout for the prayer hall, a specific kind of system using columns and pillars, as well as a mix of materials in the construction of the double arches, was used.
During the Reconquista, in 1236, Córdoba was conquered by King Ferdinand III, and it was decided that a Catholic church needed to be built to replace the Mezquita. Initially, people planned to destroy the mosque and build a cathedral in its place, but thankfully they decided that was a terrible idea and instead decided to repurpose the beautiful building that was already there. As with many mosques-turned-cathedrals that are common throughout Spain, the direction of prayer was changed so that the Christians would be facing the altar in a direction other than towards Mecca, one of the minarets used for the call to prayer was converted into a bellower, and various Catholic icons were added. In the case of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, the middle of the building was torn out, and a Renaissance cathedral nave was added. When Charles V, the king of Castile and Aragon, visited the completed Cathedral and noted the changes and destruction of the building’s original center, he famously said, “They have taken something unique in all the world and destroyed it to build something you can find in any city.” (Ouch!) I’m personally thankful for what elements of the original Mezquita remain, and find the insertion of Catholic icons and architectural styles to be very interesting. The juxtaposition of the two kinds of styles and common features of two different kinds of religious places of worship is an excellent reminder of what happened during this time in history.
After finishing our tour of the Mezquita, we walked (in the rain!) to the Barrio Judería to visit the Córdoba Synagogue. The Córdoba Synagogue is the only historic synagogue in Andalucía, and one of three surviving historic synagogues in Spain.
The synagogue was eventually turned into a Christian church, then later a hospital, and a children’s school. Today, it is a monument in the city’s Jewish quarter.
Our group then went to the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. Originally a Visigoth fortress, then a palace for the Muslim Caliphate, and finally the primary residence of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic monarchs who led the Reconquista. This was where Columbus first met with the King and Queen to discuss his plan to journey to the New World. The Alcázar has beautiful gardens, but the day we visited was incredibly rainy, so we didn’t get to enjoy them too much. The Alcázar also has Moorish-style baths, and one room that was used as the seat of the Inquisition tribunal.
Once our guided tour was over, we had a few hours of free time to do whatever we wanted in the city. I joined up with a few girls from my program and we went to a restaurant for some lunch, and then went on a short walking tour to see some monuments and buildings I had found online. It was raining all day, but I still had a good time, and we got to see some interesting sights around the historic center of Córdoba.
It was a great day, but by the time we had to leave, the rain was out of control! Everyone was very uncomfortable on the bus ride back! But I still really enjoyed Córdoba for its history and beautiful sights.
The third and final excursion I’ll talk about in this post was last weekend. I went for a day-long hike in the Cerro del Hierro in the Sierra Norte de Sevilla. This area was famous for mining, and there are some great examples of different kinds of plants and rock formations in this area. It was a beautiful day, and very nice to be out in the country away from traffic and crowds.
Phew! Lots of traveling! It’s been a busy few weeks. Classes are starting to get into more of a rhythm, and I’ve begun meeting with a Spanish tutor, which I think is going to be really helpful. I’ve also started spending time with my intercambio! CIEE offers a program where you can sign up to hang out with a Spanish student so that you can practice speaking Spanish and they can practice speaking English! I really like my intercambio, and I’m excited to get to know her better. I’ve also been touring a lot of Seville’s museums, as well as trying to see various local historical sites and monuments, which has been really interesting. This upcoming weekend will be more relaxed, and I hope to be able to get some stuff done (like blog posts I’ve been meaning to write)! Next weekend there aren’t any classes on Friday for Día de Andalucía, a regional holiday, so my friends and I are taking a long weekend trip to Madrid! I can’t wait!
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