When I think of majestic, in nature I think of the Grand Canyon. If it is man made I think of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. We visited Cordoba a few years ago on our second trip thru Spain and I was blown away by the majesty of the interior of this building originally built as a Mosque, and then converted to a Cathedral after the re-conquest of Spain.
Like the Grand Canyon it is hard to capture the majesty of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba in photos. It is best appreciated in person with all of your senses engaged.
The interior space feels more Islamic than Christian with large spaces in the Cathedral just devoted to space filled with columns and arches that encourage you to contemplate. The lighting is mostly natural and it enhances the architecture.
When the Mosque was captured the Christian conquerors made a conscious decision to retain a lot of the Mosque as it stood. In fact when the sacristy was placed in the center of the Cathedral in the 1700’s it was controversial and criticized by senior church leaders for disrupting the flow of the building.
Ton and I were both nervous about revisiting a place that had made such a big impression on us as second visits sometimes reduce the good first impression. In the case of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, we were more impressed. We entered at the opening so the crowd was less at first and we could really enjoy the size and austere grandeur of the place.
Unfortunately, we thought we had to get moving towards Granada. From the beginning we had told Kit and Stephen that the Alhambra in Granada was the one place they must see in Spain. Right after they arrived we had them look at available dates to tour the Alhambra, and tomorrow was the only day available.
They had booked with a reputable tour company, but their booking had a funny addendum. It said the time of the tour would not be assigned until 12-48 hours before the scheduled date. They had received an email a few days ago confirming their reservation, but still not specifying their time.
We were in the process of packing, an aire had been selected to stay in at Granada, and all of the data had been plugged into GPS devices. Stephen came over and I thought he was going to tell me they were ready to leave. Instead he told me that the travel company had cancelled the tour. What a bummer, we felt sorry for them as it was a place they were excited to see, and we had planned our entire trip around this tour.
A quick meeting was held and options were considered. After looking at the logistics of things it was decided that Malaga would be the alternative to Granada. An Aire was found close to the city center, GPS coordinates were updated and about 1pm we were off for Malaga.
