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Tours of Qurtuba

Casa Árabe has organized a series of themed tours through the vestiges of Al-Andalus Cordoba to celebrate its 1,300th anniversary as the capital of Al-Andalus.

This is the second edition of the series of themed tours through the remains of Al-Andalus Cordoba arranged by Casa Árabe. This year, there will be three different tour routes, offering us the possibility to get a better understanding of ancient Qurtuba through its monuments and their conceptual and material legacy inside today’s city.
Tours of Qurtuba
Photo: Manuel Gutiérrez Guerrero
  • Qurtuba, the Capital of Al-Andalus
    Photo: Antonio Ruiz Guerrero

    Qurtuba, the Capital of Al-Andalus

    From March 15, 2017 until April 01, 2017From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
    CóRDOBA
    Meeting point: Torre de la Calahorra. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. €5 per person (free for children under 16). You must register in advance.
    Registration: Starting on March 15, Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Casa Árabe’s headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9).
    In Spanish.
    First of the tours organized by Casa Árabe as part of its program to become more familiar with the remains of Al-Andalus Qurtuba. This tour will focus on the main sites within the Islamic medina.
    This tour takes us through some of the distinctive features of Qurtuba to provide an approximate overview of what the capital city of Al-Andalus and most important political and cultural core site in the Western world was like more than one thousand years ago. The tour focuses on some of the main milestones within the Islamic medina, which can still be seen today. They allow us to explain the city’s idiosyncratic nature in large part, as well as understanding Cordoba’s fundamental role as the capital of Al-Andalus.
  • The Patios of Qurtuba

    The Patios of Qurtuba

    April 29, 2017From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
    CóRDOBA
    Meeting point: Entrance door to the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. €5 per person (free for children under 16). You must register in advance.
    Registration: Starting on March 15, Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Casa Árabe’s headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9).
    In Spanish.
    Second tour through the city’s archeological remains offered by Casa Árabe. We will get to know one of the main distinguishing features of the city’s homes: their patios
    Many of the streets and homes in the historical center of Cordoba possess deep roots from the Islamic city. A characteristic model of the house was widespread in this area, with a central courtyard or patio adapted specifically to Muslim inhabitants. They reached their full and final layout in the tenth century, under the Umayyad Caliphate. This home design remained in place to a great extent after the Christian conquest and still lives on today as one of the city’s main distinguishing symbols.
  • Indelible Traces of Cordoba: The women of Al-Andalus

    Indelible Traces of Cordoba: The women of Al-Andalus

    May 06, 2017The tour will be given on Saturday, May 6, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
    CóRDOBA
    Meeting point: Casa Árabe headquarters in Cordoba (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). The tour will be given on Saturday, May 6, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. €5 per person (free for children under 16).
    Registration: Starting on April 21, from Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at the Casa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). E-mail: infocordoba@casaarabe.es. Phone: 957 498 353.
    You must register in advance.
    SOLD OUT. A themed tour which will be given on Saturday, May 6 to give us a closer look at a series of key female figures in the history of Cordoba.
    The main objective of the tour, guided by Inmaculada Serrano Hernández, is to increase awareness about the most important women in the city’s history, as well as their social, cultural, political and economic contributions. At the same time, their biographies will be melded in with the inestimable legacy they have left behind: their steps towards equality, for which the tour has been named.

    The following women will each be highlighted individually, as well as others: Lubna, Shifa, Ayab, Soraya, Muryán, Zayda, Subh Umm Wallad, Tarub, Aixa and Wallada. We will also learn about several trades belonging exclusively to women, decisive to Cordoba’s enrichment in every field of life (social, cultural, political, etc.), because these women performed the tasks of copyists, secretaries, singers, musicians, poets, tailors, weavers and more.

    On this occasion, we will tour through various different spaces, all related with these women’s lives, and many of them emblematic in our city’s historical heritage. Using Casa Árabe as a starting point, the tour will include visits to the Rey Heredia Cultural Center (in the former Convent of Santa Clara), Calle Alfayatas, the Sabbath Gate and the Caliph’s Baths, ending alongside the Statue of Lovers in the cemetery known as the Campo Santo de los Mártires.
  • Mudéjar Cordoba, the imprint of Al-Andalus
    Photo: Manuel Pijuán

    Mudéjar Cordoba, the imprint of Al-Andalus

    May 13, 2017From 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
    CóRDOBA
    Meeting point: Casa Árabe headquarters in Cordoba (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). From 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. €5 per person (free for children under 16). You must register in advance.
    Registration: Starting on March 15, Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Casa Árabe’s headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9).
    In Spanish.
    For the final tour of those we will be giving through Qurtuba, we have chosen important buildings from Cordoba’s Mudéjar period.
    The artistic and cultural heritage developed throughout five centuries of Islamic governance in Cordoba was transcendental, in both structural and decorative terms. After conquering Qurtuba, they left behind an important mark on the city of the late Middle Ages, which can still be seen today. On this tour, we will become familiar with some of the finest examples of Cordoba’s Mudéjar style, which includes the headquarters of Casa Árabe itself.