Access Córdoba Three cities on the same ground.

The arches of the Mezquita-Catedral

CÓRDOBA · ANDALUSIA

Three cities stand on this ground, and none of them was cleared away.

Roman Corduba, then Umayyad Qurtuba — for a stretch of the 10th century one of the largest cities on earth — then Christian Córdoba from 1236. Each was built into the last rather than over it, and the Mezquita is that argument standing up in one building.

Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Córdoba in brief

Country	Spain — Andalusia, in the province of the same name
Population	Around 320,000 in the city
Language	Spanish. English is common in the old city and thins fast outside it
Currency	Euro
Getting around	⭐ On foot. The old city is about a kilometre across and largely pedestrian
Arriving	On the high-speed line — Seville and Málaga are an easy day, Madrid a long one
⚠️ Summer	June to September the middle of the day is genuinely hostile. Plan around it
⚠️ May	The patio festival fills the city. Best time to come, hardest time to get a bed

785the mosque is begun

over 800columns still standing

936Medina Azahara founded

1236the city turns Christian

freeto walk the Patio de los Naranjos

~1 kmacross the old city

Start here

Ten sections. The city is small enough to walk in a morning and layered enough to take three days, so these are ordered by what people actually come for.

THE BUILDING THE CITY IS ABOUTThe Mezquita-CatedralA mosque begun in 785, a cathedral inserted in 1523, and both still standing in the same walls.TWENTY PLACES, ONE PAGE EACHLandmarks & SightsEvery sight in Córdoba worth your time, with the walk from the Mezquita and what it costs you.THE CITY UNDER THE CITYAl-AndalusFor a stretch of the 10th century this was one of the largest cities on earth, and its capital was here.COURTYARDS PEOPLE LIVE INThe PatiosPrivate courtyards their owners open to strangers — and the one month the whole city turns into them.COLD SOUP, FRIED THINGS, FORTIFIED WINEFood & DrinkWhat Córdoba actually eats, and why so much of it is served cold.THE PROVINCE, AND TWO CITIES DOWN THE LINEDay TripsCastles, white villages, wine towns — and two Andalusian capitals within reach by train.HALF A DAY TO THREEItinerariesWhat to do with the time you actually have, built around the heat and what is shut.ON FOOT, MOSTLYGetting AroundThe old city is about a kilometre across and closed to most traffic. You will walk.CORDUBA, BEFORE ANY OF ITRoman CórdobaA provincial capital that produced Seneca, and left more under the city than on top of it.THE REASON THE CITY IS HEREThe GuadalquivirNavigable from the Atlantic once, and the reason a Roman capital sat on this bend.

All twenty sights