Best of Cordoba
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Port
Seville, Spain
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Activity Level
Moderate Activity
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Excursion Type
All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At (prices in USD)
$204
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 8 Hours
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Meals Included
Meals included
From the pier in Seville it is a delightful 1½-hour drive across the Andalusian countryside to Cordoba. This magnificent city stands on a sweep of the Rio Guadalquivir and is surrounded by rolling hills stretching in every direction. A millennium ago, Cordoba was one of the greatest cities in the world, with a population approaching one million. The capital of Muslim Spain and the center of the Caliph’s power, Cordoba was Europe’s largest city as well as a cultural and intellectual star. It was the Romans who founded Cordoba to take advantage of its strategic importance as the highest navigable point on the river. Cordoba’s heyday occurred when it became the capital of the Moorish kingdom of El-Andalus. At this time, work began on the Great Mosque, or Mezquita, which eventually came one of the largest in all of Islam. When Coroba was re-conquered by the Christians in 1236, the new rulers of the city were so awed by the mosque’s beauty that they left it standing, building their cathedral within it and creating the extraordinary church/mosque you will visit today. Take a walk through the magical forest of columns, passing beneath its arches and breathing in the history of Arabian Cordoba, which is brusquely and astonishingly interrupted by the Christian cathedral set in the center of its vast interior. Next, walk through the Jewish Quarter made up of quaint, winding, flower-filled cobblestone streets dating from 1st-century AD. Just a few yards away is the small Tiberiades Square, where the monument to the philosopher Maimonides stands. Nearby is one of only three surviving pre-Inquisition synagogues in all of Spain. A Mudejar construction dating from 1315, the interior includes a gallery for women looking over the sanctuary through small balconies, and ornate plasterwork with Hebrew inscriptions. After your tour, re-board your coach for the return drive to Seville. This is a wonderful introduction to Cordoba and includes lunch at a local restaurant.
Please Note:
Tour does not operate on Mondays.