Córdoba

Abundant courtyards , flowers dripping from balconies, and narrow winding streets make Cordoba a captivating and unhurried city. Perched on the south bank of the Río Guadalquivir, it was once the largest city in Western Europe and for three centuries the hub of the Moorish Empire and rivaled only by Bagdad and Cairo. Córdoba has well preserved monuments of Roman, Jewish, Islamic and Christian origin in baffling proximity. Only in Toledo are the remnants of Spain’s colorful heritage as visibly intermixed. The heart of Córdoba is the old Jewish quarter. A walk around this area gives the sensation that little has changed since the 10th century when this was one of the greatest cities in the Western world. Wrought ironwork decorates cobbled streets too narrow for cars and here silversmiths create fine jewelry in their workshops. At the heart of the Jewish quarter is the Mezquita.