This past weekend I took a trip to the south of Spain. After a 5 hour bus ride of vanilla-bathed oreo's, ice cold coca-cola's, and restless knees I found myself peering out at the shy city of Córdoba. As we drove, I could tell it was not revealing all of the beautiful things it had to offer. Córdoba was like one of those girls in middle school who hadn't realized how pretty she was yet. There were apartment complexes upon apartment complexes that lined the streets in an almost repulsive manner. I thought to myself, "This isn't what the south of Spain is suppose to look like." Then in a flash of brilliance, Córdoba let its hair down, threw its big-framed glasses in the trash (put in its contacts), and wore one of those pretty summer dresses that showed more leg than it ought to.
There were blooming flowers, orange trees, lemon trees, and the gorgeous old buildings that I had grown accustom to in Spain. I felt like an overbearing boyfriend as I hopped off the bus with my knees screaming, "I kneed more space!" After a moment of standing and absorbing the surroundings, my knees took to their usual form of boney and reliable.
A native guided us through the city dropping facts on the ground while still maintaing her stride. As it turned out, Córdoba was the home to many great philosophers. It was easy to recognize as I rested my hand on the knee of the bronzed version of muslim philosopher Averroes, and tied my shoes at the foot of jewish philosopher Maimonedes (I'm assuming they were more likable in person).
It was a real treat because Córdoba is also the home of one of the most well-known pieces of religious architecture in the world, The Mezquita Catedral de Córdoba. It was one of the largest, most magnificent places I have ever seen. It held more history than your local library. I'm pretty sure even its cobwebs were older than anything I know. It was an interesting piece of architecture because you could find out its roots by just looking around. There was arabic written on the walls surrounding me, hinting that it was a giant mosque during the Muslim reign in Spain. Then, as we toured more, the christianity within the building became extremely evident. There were large, inviting altars, replicas of Cardinals, Bishops, and Popes, and unbelievably high ceilings with painted angels prancing about atop of clouds. The tour guide spotted the confusion on our faces as we tried to put Christianity and Islamic religions together (It's not exactly peanut butter and jelly). She explained, that the Christians re-conquered Córdoba during the "reconquista" and built a Christian cathedral inside of the Great Mosque leaving the two, very opposing religions together within one building.
Both religions brought beauty to the building. The muslims contributed to the delightful wall art (The arabic language written is beauty in itself), and the vast forest of marble pillars. The christians provided spiritual paintings, finely carved wooden palettes, and a golden tabernacle the size of a car.
Córdoba opened my eyes to the religious history in Spain. The religious diversity became even more evident when we packed up our bags and headed towards Granada. However, I will get that info to you in the next post because there are some real decent stories and it deserves its own post!
(Always) Knocking At Your Door,
Coop
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