A little more backtracking - Córdoba, beautiful Córdoba (even later April)

On my way to Cannes last April, I spent a couple of days in Córdoba...the first time I've been there.  What a great city!

The roof & domes of the "Great Mosque" as seen from the Roman bridge.

It is home to the "Great Mosque" of Spain...a gigantic and very beautiful edifice.  The city's cathedral is located in the center, which at first I found offensive but then learned that before the Moorish period when the Great Mosque became a great mosque, it had been a small church.

Here is only a small portion of the "Great Mosque" to give you some idea of the size.

The seemingly endless galleries, all white and red, are supported in many cases by Roman columns.  The high, vaulted ceilings and latticed windows around the edges lend a soft, almost secretive light.  There are many alcoves, most with Christian saints and gothic, Roman, or romanesque architecture but in a few cases the alcoves are inlaid with mosaics and verses from the Koran.

ceiling of the cathedral which is inside the Great Mosque

archway leading to a more moslem alcove

detail of some arches

The outside doors are distinctly Moslem and Moorish looking in their shape, their decoration, and the verses of the Koran inlaid around them.

Small side entrance to the "Great Mosque"

But the "Great Mosque" is not all that Córdoba has to offer.

There's also the Roman bridge, an archaeological site with Roman, Visigoth and other ruins that I didn't have time to visit, an Alcázar with stunning gardens (didn't have my camera with me when I went there, though), some interesting museums...and also some great food!

the Roman bridge

a really nice statue of Don Quijote (near the Great Mosque)

It is definitely a good place to visit, and looks like it would be a good place to live, as well.

exterior of the Alcázar.

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Eve A. Ma has recently returned to California from work in Spain on the documentary Flamenco:  the Land Is Still Fertile (Flamenco:  la tierra está viva) and in France, where she presented her documentary A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, in a festival in Cannes.