Cordoba (pop. 311 000)
Cordoba was founded by the Romans, who made it a busy port for shipping the surrounding lands' produce along the Guadalquivir River for further distribution throughout their empire. However made important by the Romans, it was the invading Arabs that gave Cordoba an elevation to greatness as they made it capital of their kingdom. To symbolize Cordoba's importance to the Islam rule, the Arabs begun work on the Great Mosque, or Mezquita, which came to be one of the largest and most magnificent in the entire Islam world. As the city fell into the hands of the Christian Catholics in the year 1236, the conquerors were so admiring the Mosque's beauty that they could not tear it down. Instead they decided to make Cathedral-like additions to it, a solution which makes the building an architectural peculiarity of great historical value. Cordoba also accommodates an old and picturesque Jewish neighborhood called "La Judaic", where an ancient Jewish Synagogue (now a museum) can be found.

Tourist Office Phone: +34 957 47 12 35/47 89 56