Córdoba - Guadalquivir

Córdoba shares its history with so many cities in Southern Spain. It was Carthaginian and Roman (from 260BC on), later it belonged to the Byzantine Empire for two decade, got looted by the Vandals, before Visigoths conquered it in 572. In 711 it was taken by the by the Umayyad army and became a provincial capital.

In the 10th century, when the Caliphate of Córdoba existed, the population grew upto 500.000, at that time it was one of the largest cities in the known world. Cologne may have had 12.000 inhabitants at that time. Christs, Jews and Muslims lived here together. In 1148 the city was taken and part of the Almohad Caliphate. The "Siege of Córdoba" by the forces of Ferdinand III, King of Castile, in 1236 marked the end of the Islamic rule over the city.

After Ferdinand III had taken Córdoba, the Mezquita, which was the largest mosque of the world at that time, was converted into a Christian cathedral.

Seen left is the "Puente Romano" built around 45 BC across the Guadalquivir river by the Romans. It has been reconstructed at various times. Most of the present structure dates from the Moorish reconstruction in the 8th century.

In the backdrop on the other side of the river - the Mezquita.