CORDOBA
Area: Cities
Country: Spain


Location:
In SW Spain, in Andalucia, at the heart of Cordoba Province. 250 miles SE of Madrid; 105 miles NW of Granada. Almost 200 miles E of the border with Portugal. 85 miles NE of Seville's international airport.

Telephone code from UK:
34

Website:
http://www.spaintour.com/cordoba.htm

Position:
Astride the River Guadalquivir, largely on the N bank. The Sierra Morena foothills rise to the N; rolling farmland extends to the S.

Description:
Capital of Cordoba Province, the city is one of Spain's most historic, and is renowned for its wealth of centuries-old architectural monuments and fortifications. The centre measures just 1 mile from N to S, and contains an old section dominated by an 8th-century combined mosque/cathedral. Shady patios, cobbled streets and alleys characterise the surrounding Jewish Quarter, more often than not decorated with bright geraniums. Beyond the old city walls (sections of which still remain) lies modern Cordoba, an assembly of nondescript mid-rise residential and commercial buildings concentrated around the railway station.

Suitability:
Popular with mature middlemarket visitors drawn by resort's history, architecture and archaeological remains. A younger student population swells visitor ranks during holidays. Many Spanish tourists as well as N Europeans and, increasingly, Japanese tour groups.

Accommodation:
Mainly middlemarket options, none above 4 stars; very few self-catering choices. Wide choice of pensions, B&Bs and medium-sized hotels in the old town. Some larger business-orientated properties beyond the city walls.

Shopping:
Small souvenir shops in cobbled streets and alleys of old Jewish Quarter and around the mosque/cathedral. Modern shops and department stores centred on Avenida Ronda de los Tejares and Bulevar del Gran Capitan. Markets in Plaza Corredera (daily except Sunday) and Gran Via Parque (Tuesday and Friday). Leather goods and ceramics are popular buys; local artisans produce fine silver filigree, paintings and wood carvings, with merchandise often available direct from workshops.

Entertainments:
Daytime: walking tours around the cobbled streets of the Jewish Quarter. Mosque/cathedral, Fortress of the Christian Kings, Roman walls and temples, synagogue (only one in Andalucia), 10th-century Caliphate Baths and Viana Palace. Museums include Bullfighting Museum (with 19th-century posters), Diocesan Museum (important ecclesiastical works, paintings and sculpture from the 13th_18th centuries), Archaeological Museum, Fine Arts Museum. Balloon flights, taxi tours, horse-drawn carriage rides. Zoo, botanical gardens. Nightlife: lively pubs and clubs of Jewish Quarter; a few discos near bullring; flamenco shows; concerts, opera, plays in Gran Teatro.

Eating:
Wide variety of simple cafes and tapas bars serving traditional Spanish dishes, seafood and chicken. Charming courtyard tavernas and restaurants serving local recipes including Cordovan pie (puff pastry with candied pumpkin peel and almonds). A few fast-food options exist on more residential outskirts of town. Most hotel restaurants offer international-style menus. Local beer and wines are good value.

Public-transport:
The narrow twisting cobbled streets of the historic centre are best negotiated on foot. A good bus network covers other areas, principally serving commercial districts and the railway station; a good train service to major cities. Plenty of metered taxis.

Local-excursions:
Full day: drives into surrounding countryside, including national parks in Sierra Morena foothills, hermitages, ruins of lavish Villa Azahara. Fortress towns in farmland to S; dam at Iznajar is good for water sports. Seville. 2 days: Madrid.