Brett & Nonie's Adventures: Cor DO ba, With Rich Corinthian Leather

In 1975, Chrysler hired the smooth Spanish accented Ricardo Montalban to extol the fine features of their new Cordoba automobile. Not to confuse the car with the 2200 year old City of Córdoba, they had him mispronounce the name by stressing the first syllable, CORdoba and not the second syllable CorDOba.

Who born in the 50’s could forget that the CORdoba came with “rich Corinthian leather”, a term that had no meaning and in fact, did not exist. The power of advertising, I still get a chill when I hear those words. Sadly, as a newlywed, rich Corinthian leather was not in my pay scale in 1975. I believe I was driving a Rambler with rich Corinthian vinyl seat covers.

Today the only horse power we found in Córdoba was of the four legged variety.

The Andalusian horse is a powerful horse that was bred for war and killing bulls, whoops fighting bulls.

Córdoba has a rich history and managed to retain some of that history. The most stunning is the 2000 year old Roman Bridge built in 1 BC. It is the perfect entrance to old Córdoba.

After another four hour bus ride, with a WC stop this time, we started the day with and empty bladder and a walking tour through the narrow streets of Old Córdoba.

Much of Old Córdoba has a definite Islamic flavor, reminding us of the souks we had recently wandered in Morocco, perhaps a little more touristy and with a marked lack of carpet shops. Muslims caliphs made Córdoba the world’s most populous city during the 10^th Century.

For some stupid reason, they allow car traffic to use the narrow streets that were designed for donkeys. The only donkeys around now, are the ones trying to drive their cars into the old city.

The Jewish Quarter was an interesting stop with a visit to a 14^th Century Synagogue. The Jews of Cordoba lived a rich and full life for almost 800 years before getting kicked out in the 16^th Century for being too successful.

We finished the day with a tour of the Mosque / Cathedral of Córdoba. A must do on Nonie’s bucket list. The site began life around 600 BC as the Christian Visigothic, Church of St. Vincent. After the Muslim Conquests the church was divided in half with one half used for Christian services and the other half for Muslim prayers. The Muslim’s bought out the Christian half in the 8^th Century and over the next 200 years created one of the largest and most grand mosques of its day.

In the 13^th Century, the new Christian rulers started the conversion of the Mosque of Córdoba into the Cathedral of Córdoba, which it remains today. Modern day Muslims have requested the opportunity to once again worship there but to date have been rebuffed by the Catholic Church. Perhaps the Visigoths would have a better chance.