Córdoba — the city that once rivalled Baghdad

Córdoba's golden age arrived in the 10th century, when it served as capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba and grew into arguably the most sophisticated city in Western Europe: contemporary accounts describe a population surpassing half a million, with dozens of libraries and hundreds of public baths at a time when London held barely 20,000 inhabitants. Muslim, Jewish and Christian scholars worked side by side in its academies, a coexistence still traced today through the narrow streets of the Judería, Córdoba's historic Jewish quarter.

The centrepiece of that era survives as the Mezquita-Catedral, begun in 785 under Abd al-Rahman I and expanded over two centuries into a forest of 856 columns beneath double-tiered horseshoe arches. After the Christian reconquest of 1236, a Renaissance cathedral was built directly inside the mosque rather than replacing it, leaving the two side by side under one roof. Córdoba now holds four UNESCO World Heritage designations in total: the Mezquita itself since 1984, the surrounding historic centre since 1994, the May Patio Festival as intangible heritage since 2012, and the nearby caliphal city of Medina Azahara since 2018.

What the camera shows

Córdoba beyond the webcam

The Roman Bridge: first raised under Augustus and rebuilt many times since, its sixteen arches still cross the Guadalquivir toward the Calahorra Tower.

The Judería: Córdoba's historic Jewish quarter, its flower-filled patios and narrow streets threading past the Mezquita.

Medina Azahara: the ruined 10th-century caliphal palace-city on the city's outskirts, UNESCO-listed since 2018.

When to watch

Daylight hours: for the clearest conditions, before the city's summer heat regularly pushes temperatures past 40°C.

Getting there: Córdoba's historic centre sits on the Guadalquivir river, about 45 minutes by high-speed train from Seville and under two hours from Madrid, Andalusia, Spain.