Cordova; A city of the Moors

{i}

THE SPANISH SERIES

{ii}

CORDOVA

{iii}

CORDOVA

A CITY OF THE MOORS BY
ALBERT F. CALVERT AND
WALTER  M.   GALLICHAN
WITH 160 ILLUSTRATIONS

 
LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMVII
{iv} 
{v} 

Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty

To
THE DUKE OF SOTOMAYOR
Lord High Chamberlain to H.M. the King of Spain, etc.

My dear Duke,

Some of the pleasantest of my many pleasant memories of Spain areassociated with, as indeed they were derived from, the sympathy you havedisplayed in my work and the great kindness I ever received from theDuchess of Sotomayor and yourself. For these, I hope, sufficientreasons—not as one who seeks to liquidate a heavy debt of hospitality,but rather rejoices in his obligations—I beg you to accept thisdedication and permit me to associate your illustrious name with thismodest volume.

I am,
My dear Duke,
Your obliged and ever grateful,
ALBERT F. CALVERT.
{vii}{vi}

PREFACE

It would be unnecessary to enlarge upon the reasons for including astudy of Cordova in this series of Spanish Handbooks: indeed a series ofthis description would be incomplete without it. The beautiful,powerful, and wise Cordova,—‘the City of Cities,’ ‘the Pearl of theWest,’ ‘the Bride of Andalus,’ as the Arabian poets have variously namedit,—the ancient capital of Mohammedan Spain, is still one of the mostcurious and fascinating monuments of this singularly interestingcountry.

Much water has flowed under the sixteen arches of the bridge which spansthe Guadalquivir since ‘Cordova was to Andalus what the head is to thebody, or what the breast is to the loin’; the Moorish city of the thirtysuburbs and three thousand mosques, whose fame once obscured the gloryof ancient Damascus, is no longer the centre of European culture. ‘Thebrightest splendour of the world’ has been lost in centuries of neglectand decay, and the new{viii} light of a modern civilisation has not shoneupon the remains of its mediæval grandeur.

But the Cordova of the great Khalif is still the most African city inSpain; its mosque remains to give us a clearer and fuller idea of thepower and magnificence of the Moors than anything else in the Peninsula,not excepting even the Alhambra; and in its narrow, uneven streets andmysterious, silent patios, in the gold and crimson of its fragrantgardens, the student and the artist may find unending interest andenchantment.

In selecting the illustrations for this book, the authors haveendeavoured to provide both for the antiquary and the lover of thebeautiful; for those whose acquaintance with Spain must be made throughthe medium of the printed page, and for those more fortunate readers whowill, we hope, find this book a memento of their wanderings inAndalusia.

ALBERT F. CALVERT.     
WALTER M. GALLICHAN.
{ix}

CONTENTS

{x} 

{xi} 

ILLUSTRATIONS