WHILE GRANADA WAS THE LAST MOORISH CAPITAL,
THE CAPITAL THROUGH THE GLORY DAYS OF MUSLIM RULE WAS CORDOBA.
TUCKED INTO A BEND OF ITS RIVER, CORDOBA HAS A GLORIOUS PAST.
WHILE ITS OLD WALL EVOKES A TOUGH HISTORY,
ITS ELEGANT CITYSCAPE AND CONVIVIAL SQUARES
SHOW A MODERN PRIDE.
AS IS TYPICAL OF ANDALUCIA,
IT'S A PEOPLE-FRIENDLY CITY FILLED WITH ENERGY AND COLOR.
CORDOBA'S CENTERPIECE IS A MASSIVE FORMER MOSQUE,
OR, IN SPANISH,MEZQUITA.
THIS HUGE RECTANGLE DOMINATES
THE TANGLED MEDIEVAL TOWN THAT SURROUNDS IT.
GRAND GATES LEAD TO THE COURTYARD.
IT WAS HERE, WHEN THIS WAS A MOSQUE,
THAT WORSHIPERS WOULD GATHER TO WASH
BEFORE PRAYER, AS DIRECTED BY MUSLIM LAW.
ENTERING, YOU STEP INTO A FOREST OF DELICATE COLUMNS
AND GRACEFUL ARCHES DATING FROM OVER A THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
AT ITS ZENITH, THIS MOSQUE WAS THE CENTER OF WESTERN ISLAM
AND THE HEART OF A CULTURAL CAPITAL
THAT RIVALED BAGHDAD AND CONSTANTINOPLE.
A WONDER OF THE MEDIEVAL WORLD, IT'S REMARKABLY WELL PRESERVED,
GIVING TODAY'S VISITORS A CHANCE TO APPRECIATE
ISLAMIC CORDOBA IN ITS 10th-CENTURY PRIME.
THE COLUMNS AND ARCHES SEEM TO RECEDE TO INFINITY,
AS IF REFLECTING THE IMMENSITY
AND COMPLEXITY OF GOD'S CREATION.
THEMIHRAB,THE FOCAL POINT OF WORSHIP IN A MOSQUE,
WAS BUILT IN THE MID-10th CENTURY.
IT'S RICHLY MOSAICED, WITH 3,000 POUNDS
OF TINY, MULTICOLORED GLASS AND ENAMEL CUBES.
A PAINTING IN THE ADJACENT TREASURY TAKES US BACK TO 1236,
WHEN CHRISTIANS CONQUERED THE CITY AND EVERYTHING CHANGED.
HERE WE SEE THE SPANISH KING,
ACCEPTING THE KEYS TO CORDOBA'S FORTIFIED GATE
FROM THE VANQUISHED MUSLIMS.
ACCORDING TO LEGEND, ONE MORNING MUSLIMS SAID THEIR LAST PRAYERS
IN THE GREAT MOSQUE.
THAT AFTERNOON, THE CHRISTIANS SET UP THEIR PORTABLE ROAD ALTAR
AND CELEBRATED THE FIRST MASS IN WHAT WOULD LATER BECOME
THIS GLORIOUS CATHEDRAL.
AS IF PLANTING A CROSS INTO ITS RELIGIOUS HEART,
THIS GRAND CATHEDRAL WAS BUILT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOSQUE.
TAKING TWO CENTURIES TO COMPLETE,
THE CATHEDRAL IS A GLORIOUS MIX
OF GOTHIC, RENAISSANCE, AND BAROQUE STYLES.
A STATUE, ACTUALLY CALLED SAINT JAMES THE MOOR-SLAYER,
STANDS NEXT TO THE ALTAR.
SWORD RAISED AS USUAL, JAMES IS BUSY CONQUERING MUSLIMS.
OTHER ART IS LESS PROVOCATIVE.
THE BAROQUE ERA CHOIR STALLS ARE MADE OF NEW WORLD MAHOGANY.
WITH EXQUISITE CARVING,
IT'S CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MASTERPIECES
OF 18th-CENTURY ANDALUSIAN BAROQUE.
AND, TOWERING OVER THE FORMER MOSQUE,
A BELL TOWER MAKES IT CLEAR THIS HUGE EDIFICE NOW HOUSES
A PLACE OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.
IN THE 10th CENTURY, WHEN A MINARET STOOD
WHERE THE BELL TOWER STANDS TODAY,
CORDOBA WAS ARGUABLY EUROPE'S GREATEST CITY.
IT WAS A CULTURAL CAPITAL
WITH PROBABLY 10 TIMES THE POPULATION OF PARIS.
IMAGINE THE CITY,
WITH PAVED STREETS, LIT AT NIGHT BY OIL LAMPS,
PIPED IN RUNNING WATER, HUNDREDS OF MOSQUES,
PALACES, AND PUBLIC BATHS.
IT WAS A CITY OF POETS AND SCHOLARS.
WHILE THINGS CHANGED LATER,
THE GOLDEN AGE OF AL-ANDALUS -- AS THIS SOCIETY WAS CALLED --
WAS MARKED BY A REMARKABLE SPIRIT OF TOLERANCE
AND COOPERATION AMONG ALL RELIGIONS.
TO LEARN MORE, I'M JOINED BY MY FRIEND AND FELLOW TOUR GUIDE,
ISABEL MARTINEZ.
SO, JEWS, CHRISTIANS,
AND MUSLIMS, ALL LIVING TOGETHER PEACEFULLY HERE.
YES, CERTAINLY, IT WORKED OUT,
DURING CERTAIN TIMES,
ESPECIALLY DURING THE 10th CENTURY.
THREE DIFFERENT CULTURES, TOGETHER?
WELL, THAT'S WHAT MOST OF THE PEOPLE THINK,
BUT I THINK IT'S MORE CORRECT TO SAY IT WAS ONE CULTURE
WITH THREE RELIGIONS, BECAUSE AT THE END, ALL THE PEOPLE HERE
TALKED ARABIAN LANGUAGE, COOKED THE SAME DISHES,
AND WORE THE SAME CLOTHES.
OKAY, ONE CULTURE, THREE RELIGIONS.
EXACTLY. AL-ANDALUS.