Tuesday 20th October

We left Priego de Cordoba and moved on to Cordoba itself. It is a very big city and we had a lot of difficulty finding a parking place. Eventually we parked amongst the tour buses which seemed okay. One of the main motivations for this journey was to visit the Mezquita in Cordoba - one of the most famous buildings in the world. When you enter the building you are absolutely taken aback by its size - it is absolutely enormous. Built as a Mosque and completed in 796 it is amazing that so much of it exists to this day.

The highlight of the interior of the building is the exquisite Mihrab (or prayer niche) where the Imam would have led prayers from. It served two purposes - one to indicate the direction to Mecca - and two, to amplify the voice of the Imam. It is generally agreed to be one of the most beautiful examples of Moorish art and has been copied many times in Mosques around the world.

Unfortunately in 1523, more than 300 years after the Christian reconquest of Cordoba, the Spanish King, Carlos the 5th foolishly allowed the Christian authorities to demolish the centre of the Mosque and build a Cathedral in the space vacated. Apparently he soon realised his folly and admonished the church hierarchy saying " you have destroyed something which was unique in the world".

We left Cordoba and moved on west to Palma del Rio where we are staying tonight. Today we travelled 107 miles (172 kilometres). We went out for a meal in town.