The Mezquita-Catedral of Córdoba

January 22^nd, 2026

After checking out the Antequera Castle and the rock formations of El Torcal de Antequera in the morning, I drove a couple of hours to the 12th largest city in Spain, Córdoba, with a population around 325,000.  It was once a Roman colony but was conquered by the Muslims in the 8th century.  By the 10th century, it was the second largest city in Europe!  But the caliphate faltered and there was a Christian conquest in 1236.

 

What came from this?  Well, the Mezquita-Catedral, which is Spanish for Mosque-Cathedral.  It is one of the “12 Treasures of Spain”.  Located near the banks of the Guadalquivir River, the construction of the mosque began in 785 and was eventually completed in 971.  The mosque was converted to a cathedral in 1236.

The Mezquita-Catedral is the biggest building on the other side of the Roman bridge of Córdoba, which was originally constructed in the 1st century.  It is known locally as the "Old Bridge" because for two thousand years it was the city's only bridge across the river, until the construction of the San Rafael Bridge in the mid-twentieth century.

That's the Calahorra Tower on the south side of the river.

Some kind of water wheel on the other side.

The Triumph Fountain on the other side of the bridge.

Outside of the Mezquita-Catedral.

The Vizier's Gate, it is one of the oldest surviving gates of the mosque with the decorations dating from 855.  As you can see, it's no longer used. 

I found the entrance into the courtyard and there was a sign with a QR code that you could use to buy a ticket to enter the building.  I paid an extra 5 Euros for an audio guide.  I wasn’t sure how much value I was going to get from the audio guide as mosques and cathedrals aren’t really my thing, but I was going to give it a try.

In the courtyard.

Orange anyone?

A woman at the entrance scanned my ticket and I entered.  Hold on, where do I get my audio guide?  I reread the confirmation email I had received and I had to go to another building to pick it up.  I returned to the entrance and a staff member pointed in the other direction for the “salida”, the exit, not knowing that I had just come in.  The woman saw me and I showed the two of them that I had paid for the guide.  The man gave me some instructions in Spanish that I partially understood, and they let me back out.  I wonder how many tourists run into this same issue.

It was hard to get a good view of the Bell Tower from the courtyard.

The main entrance into the inside of the Mezquita-Catedral.

Armed with my audio guide, it started in the courtyard.  I got a kick out of what this excerpt had to say (hopefully you can understand me in the video).  If you can't, well it was a bit hippy trippy.

If you Google the Mezquita-Catedral, you're bound to see images of these arches...there were so many!

Okay, so I'm not going to pretend like I know what most of my photos are actually about with regards to the history or significance.  I gave up on the audio guide fairly early on...so just enjoy the pictures!

It's hard to see in this lighting, but if you zoom in on picture (double-click it), it seems like Jesus has a "Hey, what did I do?" look on his face and with his body language.

The arches were everywhere.

Obviously part of the mosque.  Such ornate decorations.

Hey look, some more arches.

Saint Teresa's Chapel.

This guy was a bit disturbing...

...as was she.

Okay, this is a bit different from the rest of the place.

I couldn't help but keep taking pictures of these striped arches.

The mechanism for an old clock.

A glimpse into the nave.

The main altar in the nave.

The dome was impressively high.

A scan around of the nave.

Looking back into the choir area.

Now that's an organ!

The carvings on the choir seats was impressive.

Looking to the main altar from the choir section.

Looking around the choir area, aka quire.

I'm looking a bit tired here...maybe getting a bit religioned out.

I just couldn't help myself!

Okay, something different.  I'm a sucker for stained glass windows.

After wandering around the interior of the Mezquita-Catedral, I bought another ticket online to go up the Bell Tower (3 Euros).  This is the top of a small dome that you see when you enter or exit the courtyard through the Bell Tower.

Looking up the Bell Tower.

That's the main building below the bell that I just visited.

So the tall bit is the nave, and you see why there were so many arches inside to hold up all of those lower, peaked rooves.

For whom the bell tolls.

The courtyard.

Looking to the north over Córdoba.

Checking out the views.  This is the tallest viewpoint in the city.

Looking back at the bell tower after I left the complex.

There was this cute group of Japanese ladies in an impromptu photoshoot.

I couldn't resist but smap my own pic.

Looking down a street that branched off from the area.

I passed by another entrance to the courtyard...

...where I was able to get a better photo of the Bell Tower.

Walking around the other outer perimeter of the Mezquita-Catedral.

The Puerta del Puente, literally the Bridge Door, to walk onto the old bridge.

A selfie with the Mezquita-Catedral.

Approaching the Calahorra Tower on my way back.  You don't actually go through it, just around it.

Back at Octi, I decided that my day wasn’t over even though it was around 4 o'clock.  I could have stayed overnight in the parking lot that I was at, but it didn’t seem that appealing.  I planned on doing a hike tomorrow near Granada, so I decided to drive about an hour and a half to a small town called Alcala la Real.  I arrived at the campground as it just got dark and started to rain…perfect.  That was a long, but good day.