Cordoba in 16 Fun Facts, Cordoba, Spain

With its Roman roots, Visigoths times, Arab golden age, and Christian reconquest, Cordoba is a city that fascinates and that is too often overshadowed by Seville or Granada. Allow yourself a few days to explore this jewel and to soak up its atmosphere.

At the beginning of the 8th century, the Umayyads extended the territory of Islam from their capital in Damascus to the West reaching the Atlantic. From the north of Africa, they conquered the Iberian Peninsula. The fall of the eastern dynasty led to the flight of its descendant, Abd Al Rahmán I, to Cordoba where he created an independent Emirate: Al-Andalus.

As the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate in Al-Andalus, at its zenith in the 10th century, Cordoba was the largest city in the world counting an estimated 500,000 inhabitants— an astonishing size for its time, dwarfing Paris and London of the era.

Cordoba became a thriving hub of culture, knowledge, and innovation. Scholars from across Europe and the Islamic world flocked to the cosmopolitan city, which was famed for its extensive libraries, advanced schools, luxurious Arab baths, and vibrant intellectual life while the city’s streets buzzed with scholars, philosophers, poets, scientists, and artisans of all religions. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).