Palacio de la Merced Area

 Besides being a city, Córdoba heads a province of the same name, one of 50 in Spain – the same number as the US has states; but Spanish provinces are much smaller. If we moved Spain westward (where it once found the incredible wealth that funded its global power), we’d eventually overlay it on California, once its prized possession at about the same latitude. Both have about the same population density, but Spain has 20% more area and 25% more people. Spain’s provinces therefore are closer in size and space to a county in the US.  Cordoba province has less than a million people, 20% the population of Houston’s Harris County (where we write these words) even though it’s 3 times the size. Harris County is 1/3 Hispanic, and so it may have more native Spanish speakers than Cordoba province. But what we don’t have is our own parliament, especially one with such a stunning place to meet. Hey brother, can you spare some stimulus money?

The original convent of the Sisters of Mercy was founded by King Ferdinand III (the saint) who took Cordoba back from the Moors in the 13th century. The style of this much later building is "Córdoban Baroque."

We found the complex closed but supposedly it contains a wealth of sculpture and painting, much of it tracing back to convent days but some of it refreshed through periodic competitions held by the province. The church (below left) holds Córdoba's best Baroque retable by Alonso Gómez de Sandoval. (Unfortunately, an arsonist destroyed this altarpiece in 1978 but it has been recently restored.)


This church separates two long cloisters built after the church's 3-decade construction starting in 1716. A very long facade unites the entire structure. The archangel at top is, no surprise, Córdoba's custodian/patron Rafael. The Baroque likes to surprise -- and this facade does so in several ways, both near and far.

This statue of Our Lady of Mercy (seen at the center of the second story of the church above left  or full picture at above right) seems almost lost between the four twisted columns and other Baroque embellishment. Note the balcony at top in the left picture, a frequent addition to Andalusian churches but not that common in the Baroque which pretty well spurned the practical. After the passage of the Alienation Law in 1834, Spain took over many of the monasteries and convents and converted them to other uses. This was turned into an orphanage. The waifs began to live in style.

Hello, new paint! Hello, Trompe-l’œil!

The palacio has been restored many times, the most recent being in 1960 when it was converted to house the parliament. This restoration was led by MIT-trained architect Rafael de La Hoz Arderius who grew up in Córdoba and designed over 60 buildings here, many of them quite modern. Look closely: the effects here are achieved not with marble, but with paint! Another Baroque surprise!

The roof line continues with the faux marble. Baroque sensibility with a broke budget produces a lot of Trompe-l’œil. 

This is an ancient building site and a recent attempt to build an underground garage unearthed Roman ruins.

The east garden

While the garden on the east side was closed, we poked the camera lens through the grill to take snatches of its lovely symmetrical courtyard.

The tiled fountain centers the ground level...

...while the backdrop shown in this cruelly stitched picture is of an elaborate zodiac sundial whose dial (gnomon) is held in the mouth of the beast at top. It traces not only the Roman hours in the highest arc and lowest arcs, but the paths of the stars of the zodiac in figure-eight ellipses that connect the two hour arc lines. So you get the time and the date (at least to the level of precision of the sign you are currently under.) Because of the rain, I was unable to check its accuracy against my satellite-updated digital watch, which, I have been told, is less of a conversation starter than this garden display created by architect  Arderius Rafael de la Hoz during the 1960s renovation.

Torre de la Malmuerta

Across Christopher Columbus park from the Parliament building is one of Córdoba's few remaining gates with its defensive tower called the Torre de la Malmuerta, named after a woman who was unjustly put to death by her jealous husband. This early 15th century fortification replaced Moorish defenses. Ramrods would be ineffective against this octagonal tower because it is solid up to the height of the arch. Over the years, many rumors have sprung up about this site, including one about a fortune in gold and silver being buried underneath it by the Moors. Once siege artillery made it and the the town's walls useless, the tower became a prison for nobles and an astronomical observation tower.

Next, we explore the Juderia, the old Jewish section of Córdoba. Please 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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