“To Cordoba belong all the beauty and ornaments that delight the eye or dazzle the sight. Her long line of Sultans form her crown of glory; her necklace is strong with the pearls which her poets have gathered from the ocean of language; her dress is of the banners of learning, well–knit together by her men of science; and the masters of every art and industry are the hem of her garments.“

So begins the introduction of Stanley Lane–Poole’s book, ’The Story of the Moors in Spain’. A tale that seems as mythical as that of Atlantis, lost city of the waves, as and as much of a revelation as the entombed city of Pompeii. An unexpected oasis amidst the parched vicissitudes of a barren desert, the Arabian city of Cordoba rises, mirage–like, from the seamy darkness that had engulfed the Europe of its time. A vision in and of itself, Cordoba was a spectacle of not only mere aesthetic beauty, but a triumph of human achievement in architecture, engineering, science, and the arts.

The tapestry of Cordoba’s history is woven with the threads of many peoples that have passed through the land of the warm Spanish sun, most notably the Romans and the Arabs. Due to its strategic location as the highest navigable point of the Guadalquivir River, it became a port city of great influence, as seen by the Roman bridge that crosses the river, known as ’El Puente Romano’. The seven hundred and sixty year presence of the Romans in Spain shaped the city considerably, but it was when Cordoba became the capital of the Spanish Muslim kingdom of Al– Andalus that it experienced its greatest hour.

The Visigoths had overrun Spain after the disintegration of the Roman Empire, and Cordoba in the year 711 CE was drowning in a cesspool of decadence under the fragile reign of the Visigoth King Rodrigo. The governor of Northern Africa, Musa ibn Nusayr, determined that the opportunity had come to take the peninsula, and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar with 7000 men. Once victorious, they advanced to Toledo where the conquered territory was called ’Land of the Vandals’, or Al–Andalus.

Abd El Rahman I became Emir of Al Andalus in 756 CE, and the Spanish territories were declared independent of Baghdad, which was the then capital of the Islamic Empire. The Great Mosque of Cordoba, known as the ’Mezquita’, is an enduring symbol of his reign. Later Caliphs made subsequent additions and enlargements, but it nevertheless retains an underlying sense of harmony, creating the impression of a single, unified origin. One of the largest mosques in all of Islamic architecture, it features round arches, ribbed domes, and the use of red and white bricks to create polychromy. Unable to resist the overwhelming beauty of the polychrome style, European visitors did not waste any time in introducing versions of the Islamic architectural style in their own buildings and churches.

The city of Cordoba was light years ahead of the European cities surrounding it, the very height and definition of civilization itself. With over two hundred thousand residential homes in the city, six hundred mosques, nine hundred public baths, acclaimed universities and houses of learning, fifty hospitals, and several large markets which accommodated all branches of trade and commerce, including fifteen thousand specialized weavers, Cordoba basked in the light of modernity and progress. An excerpt from Ahmad Thomson’s book on the subject of Islam in Spain tells us much about Cordoba in comparison to it’s surrounding environment. Thomson writes, “You could walk through her streets for ten miles in one direction at night, and always have the light of lamps to guide your way. Seven hundred years later this would still be an innovation in London or Paris, as would pave streets.“

Another marvel of Islamic Spain was the city of Madinat Al–Zahra, situated five kilometres away from Cordoba and home to the Emir’s palatial residence. It took Abd Al–Rahman twenty five years to build it, and it existed in its full splendour for a mere sixty five years. Thousands of sculpted marble fountains adorned the city, shady cypresses and palm trees meandered around enormous reception halls, and beautifully designed gardens created a heady mix of lingering scents: oleanders and tuberoses, lilies and roses, myrtle and rosemary.

Like the vague and half forgotten somnolence of a sweetly lingering dream, the city of Madinat Al–Zahra lay in the distant parts of the world’s memory, hidden beneath the dust of passing time. After eighty years of restoration, however, about one tenth of the city has been excavated. Parts of Abd Al–Rahman’s palace, the homes of dignitaries and officials, and military buildings have been uncovered, to reveal the overlooked magnificence of a once golden civilization.

Alas, the history of Cordoba as a thriving city of merchants and artists alike comes to as much of a sudden and tragic end as that of Pompeii and Atlantis. In 1212, forces from Castilla, Aragon, and Navarra defeated the Arabs in the battle of Navas. Later in 1236, Fernando III seized the city of Cordoba, effectively ending Arab rule. The last Arab kingdom in Spain was Granada, surrendered by Abu Abdullah, known to the Spaniards as Boabdil.

And so does the legend of the vibrant city of Cordoba end. The victorious Christian forces sought to eradicate any traces of Arab culture and custom, even going as far as to ban public bathing because it was so loved by the Muslims. Like the great civilizations of yore, Cordoba too breathes its sweetly perfumed air through the ages, a wonder of human accomplishment.