Day nine.

The fourth place we visited in Spain was Cordova, located in the south of Spain. Cordova's got quite the colorful history: it was originally a Roman settlement, then the Visigoths (early German people) took over, then the Umayyad (Muslim) conquest happened in the eighth century. In 1236, the Reconquista or the expansion of the Christian kingdoms happened, and in that period the Kingdom of Castile conquered Cordova, relinquishing the Umayyad's rule.

Compared to other metropolitan cities, I thought Cordova was much more on the historical side. You don't feel a great modern vibe in the city, although that doesn't mean that it hasn't kept up with the times. I quite liked the vibe of Cordova, actually, as it felt less chaotic than cities like Barcelona and Valencia. 

We visited Cordova's most popular Catholic church: the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba or Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba. Its construction was ordered by Abd al-Rahman I (the founder of the Muslim Dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula) in 784 and it was built on the same site of the Catholic Basilica of Saint Vincent of Lérins, a Visigoth church. Because of the Reconquista, it was converted to a Catholic church.

The inside of the cathedral is a blend of Moorish and Catholic designs and contains quite a number of chapels.