The Arab Section

Let’s now explore the ancient Arab Quarter just north of the mosque/cathedral as show in the picture below.

At the arrival of the second millennium (2000 CE), I had the great fortune to be living in what I think is Europe’s greatest city, Paris. Others may argue that title should go to places such as London. By then, prestige and power were pretty well spread throughout that once-contentious continent. But when the first millennium (1000 CE) arrived, no one would argue that any but Córdoba was Europe’s greatest city. The next largest town was probably 1/10th its size. Outside of Muslim Spain, life in Europe was nasty and brutish, and many expected the millennium to bring the end of the world (rather than just crazy computers dividing dates by zeroes.) Most of Europe’s kings were illiterate then. But here in Córdoba, Caliphs wrote poetry.

The Moors' power generally peaked around 1000 CE and then began to disintegrate quickly.  In the 21 years before the Umayyad dynasty collapsed in 1031, 9 different caliphs served (and fought each other for power).  Córdoba nearly fell into ruins. Today the old Arab quarter is whitewash and black wrought iron, accented by pots of roses and geraniums.

No surprise, the Arab quarter clings to its mosque even though it has been baptized with wedding-cake bell towers by the famous Ruiz architect family we'll discuss later (see photo below left). While the arches (below right)  look authentic, Córdoba's mayor added them to attract tourists during the 1950s. How these flowers get sufficient sun in these narrow alleys (Callejas) is beyond me. What we see here is the Arab section generic dead end: a narrow whitewashed calleja bristling with cast iron and clay pots. In an unholy compromise between tradition and convenience, the arch has been added for the tourists and the electric wires for the residents.

But even the most narrow callejas lead to squares where the neighbors gathered around their water supply. The Moor's brought water to the Mosque and then piped it down to the squares in this area. 

If a Callejas (alley) is too big for you, we have pictured below the even narrower Callejita de Panuelo (nicknamed after the handkerchief which, when held diagonally as by our model in the picture below, extends its width.) Its real name is Calle Pedro Jimènez. We visited here before lunch as I may not have fit through this alleyway afterwards. Note the pillar, most likely expropriated from an earlier monument, used here to prop up the corner of the building. This is a common architectural element of the whitewashed towns of Andalusia.

The old orphanage -- El antiguo Hospital de San Sebastián

 
Moving now from the north to the west side of the mosque/cathedral quarter, let’s leave the Arab quarter and explore what has been since 1980 the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos (more or less a convention center).


This Gothic entrance at upper left originally gathered waifs, not tourists. Grandfather Hernán Ruiz of the brilliant Andalusian architect family built this between 1512 and 1516 across from the mosque whose flat roof he was converting into a Gothic-ribbed cathedral. This grandfather/son/grandson combination, all named Hernán, started Gothic and evolved to Renaissance. Note the 3 partial arches above  the door, over which we find as fine a Gothic tympanum as you are likely to see anywhere except on a cathedral. We supposedly have here, (left to right) Saints Peter, the featured Sebastian, and Paul. (But I can’t find any of the traditional iconography here such as Peter’s clumsy keys to heaven or the arrows usually piercing poor Sebastian. Check out their pedestals and umbrellas. Had this been a church, the center spot would most likely have been held by Jesus or Mary.  Servant of all statuary, the pigeón would most likely still be there as well.)

Walking through the Gothic facade, we encounter a courtyard which is everything the portal is not: spacious but simple with plain brick arches forming a double arcaded space that once held the ablutions room during mosque days

One side of the courtyard still holds remnants of the Alcazar (fort) of the Caliphs from the 10th century). 

After the conquest, the cathedral chapter formed the Brotherhood of San Sebastian to provide care for the sick and demented. In the early 16th century, they began to take in the homeless children abandoned in Cordóba’s streets. At first they used one of the side rooms off the mosque’s Patio de los Naranjos before tasking Hernán Ruiz with creating  this orphanage, called the Hospital de San Sebastián. The wealthy Juan Fernandez de Cordova, feeling guilty over his early life, paid the bill.  (We don’t know what he was repenting from, but he was the one who brought the Jesuits to Cordoba earlier.)

Returning to the front of the building, we explore the former chapel area, now housing Córdoba’s tourist office. 

In the picture above left, in addition to this floor-to-ceiling golden retable, note the  soaring gothic ribs of the ceiling. At upper left is a screened gallery where the children could watch the services. At right is another view from the chapel through beautifully grilled doors into the courtyard. Certainly this was a pretty place to be abandoned. It served long as an orphanage and was eventually converted to a maternity hospital until its closure in 1961. Fortunately, it reopened as an exposition hall/tourist center two decades later. 

The Triunfo of San Rafael 

Stepping back into the street and looking south past the long wall of the mosque/cathedral on our left and towards Rio Guadalquivir, we catch sight (below left) of the most significant of the many statues to Saint Rafael in this town. In the pre-WHO 16th century, Rafael appointed himself custodian after saving Córdoba from the plague.

The Rafael monument commands the intersection between many historic buildings including in the picture above right) the mosque at its 1:00 position, the Alcazar of the Christian Kings at its 11:00 position, and the elaborate arch at its 5:00 position at the edge of the Roman bridge. The Rio Guadalquivir hides at the bottom of this picture.

When a statue is raised on high by a column, it's called a Triunfo (Triumph). This is the grandest in town, erected in 1736 by the cathedral chapter which was probably a bit envious of the many Rafael statues raised by competing religious groups such as the Jesuits.  The site is just south of the mosque/cathedral kitty-corner to the grand southern gate that we will see a bit later. 

The Triunfo project started by disinterring human remains from a nearby hospital, replacing them with a cascading Italian fountain which never worked right and was abandoned. This was replaced by what appears to be a hill of carved statuary of angel and animal (above left), topped by a large cylinder. Rising above all this is a pillar atop which the serene Rafael smiles (apparently fishless as we shall see) in marble above the town he saved.

Next, come with us while we visit the Arab baths, scene of a few assisinations of the Caliphs during Córdoba's turbulent regime changes. Join us by clicking here.

Please join us in the following slide show to give Córdoba the viewing it deserves by clicking here.

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Previous:   Córdoba Introduction            Next: Arab Baths

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