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.

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.

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.

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.