Oct 26 Cordova, Spain old town

After leaving the Mosque-Cathedral (or MFPC) we headed to the old town of Cordova. The first image shows some of our group in the street, which while narrow, has lots of retail.







The second image shows our group going through a gate. On the other side of the gate is Maimonides Square.




The third image shows that you can see part of the Cathedral complex from Maimonides Square looking through the narrow street.You can also see the arch from the previous image.

The fourth image shows a sign that says "JUDAERIA" which means the place of the Jews (or the Jewish Quarter). Of course the sign is referring to a long ago time. The history of Cordova is complex as is the history of Jews in Cordova.  

In 1000 CE the population of Cordova was about 500,000 and it was one of the most important, cultured and wealthy cities in the world. By 1750, the population was about 20,000 and the city was poor. 

Jews had several periods in which they prospered for example, in the 10th century under Moslem rule and in most of the 14th century under Christian rule (the 10 century being the more prosperous of the two).  In both periods the Jews lived in this same area of town. In the 10th probably by choice, in the 14th by order of the King. Both periods ended with massacres, the one at the end of the 14th (1391) was the worse massacre.

The fifth image shows Ann and Beth with the hotel Maimonides in left background. The sign on the wall says, "Plaza Maimonides".







In the sixth image George is in front of another part of the Maimonides square.  Note that the center of the plaza has a six pointed star. This is a relatively (past 20 years or so) new addition.







The seventh image shows some of our group in the synagogue of Cordova. It is called the Maimonides Synagogue sometimes but it was built in the early 14th century, about a hundred years after Maimonides left Cordova* and during the relatively tolerant Christian rule (which as noted before ended with a massacre). We had a mincha minyan here, although there was no Torah scroll in the ark. This synagogue is one of the best preserved in all of Europe from that period.


The eighth image is the four of us near a statue of Maimonides.  The statue is a bit misleading because Maimonides left Cordova when he was about 11 years old. Our local guide told us that it has become very fashionable to live near the Maimonides statue and this has, consequently, distorted the real estate market.

*We don't know for sure when Maimonides left Cordova but it was about 1148. It was about the same time that the Muslim philosopher Averroes, a.k.a. Ibn Rushd, left Cordova and for the same reason. The reason was the fanatical Islamic rule of of the Almohades who persecuted Jews as well as Muslims who studied philosophy. Both Averroes and Maimonides were followers of Aristotle and both went to Marrakesh in Morocco and lived near each other there for a few years but we have no record of them meeting one another.