Articles on Córdoba's layered past: Roman Corduba, Visigothic rule, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Reconquista, and the centuries that shaped the city today.https://www.explorecordoba.comhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/almohad-cordoba-1148-1236https://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/almohad-cordoba-1148-1236Was Córdoba in decline under the Almohads, 1148-1236? Seville took the capital and Averroes was exiled, yet new digs find walls, towers and an Almohad palace.Wed, 11 Nov 2026 09:54:33 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/romantic-travellers-cordoba-19th-centuryhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/romantic-travellers-cordoba-19th-centuryHow Gautier, Ford and De Amicis, three Romantic travellers, wrote up Córdoba's Mezquita: what they praised, what they got wrong and what you can still see.Mon, 02 Nov 2026 12:48:44 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/hermenegild-leovigild-cordoba-584https://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/hermenegild-leovigild-cordoba-584Hermenegild's revolt against Leovigild ended in Córdoba in 584, where his father caught him. How the story became martyrdom, and what survives in the city.Thu, 22 Oct 2026 03:29:13 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/mezquita-mihrab-byzantine-mosaicshttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/mezquita-mihrab-byzantine-mosaicsThe Mezquita mihrab's Byzantine mosaics: what chronicles say about the emperor's gift, what glass analysis proves, and how repairs since 1771 changed them.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 05:36:03 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/kingdom-of-cordoba-castile-1236-1833https://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/kingdom-of-cordoba-castile-1236-1833The Kingdom of Córdoba had no king: it was a Castilian jurisdiction from 1236 to 1833. How realengo, señorío, corregidores and the Cortes governed it.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 03:50:04 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/assembly-of-cordoba-1919-andalusian-flaghttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/assembly-of-cordoba-1919-andalusian-flagWas Andalusia's flag born at the 1919 Assembly of Córdoba? Official texts point to Ronda 1918; Córdoba endorsed the Manifesto of Nationality. Claim checked.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 05:22:20 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/banu-jahwar-republic-of-cordoba-1031https://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/banu-jahwar-republic-of-cordoba-1031After the caliphate fell, Córdoba became a republic run by the Banu Jahwar. How the taifa worked, why it fractured, and how Seville took it around 1070.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 03:50:19 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/amarguilla-hoard-baena-andalusi-jewelleryhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/amarguilla-hoard-baena-andalusi-jewelleryThe Tesorillo de la Amarguilla: 623 pieces of 11th-century Andalusi jewellery from Baena that surfaced on social media. What do they say about who buried them?Sun, 18 Oct 2026 07:55:00 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/electromecanicas-secem-cenemesa-cordoba-industryhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/electromecanicas-secem-cenemesa-cordoba-industryHow SECEM, founded 1917, and Cenemesa built Córdoba's company barrio of Electromecánicas: the housing, the Rosario church and what survives the factory.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:31:25 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/al-razi-annals-al-hakam-ii-courthttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/al-razi-annals-al-hakam-ii-courtIsa al-Razi's annals of Al-Hakam II's Córdoba court cover June 971 to July 975: embassies, ceremonial, Ibn Abi Amir's rise and what to see at Madinat al-Zahra.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 09:07:07 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/arquillos-alley-narrow-lanes-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/arquillos-alley-narrow-lanes-cordobaThe Arquillos alley in Córdoba's Judería is gated, so you see it through bars. Why 'narrowest' is unproven, and how the Pañuelo and Flores lanes compare.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 05:46:53 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/roman-theatre-cordoba-archaeological-museumhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/roman-theatre-cordoba-archaeological-museumCórdoba's Roman theatre lay beneath the Archaeological Museum until a 1994 dig. How it was dated, plundered and displayed in the 2011 annex, and how to visit.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:48:12 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/villaviciosa-chapel-1880-works-mosque-ceiling-mural-losshttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/villaviciosa-chapel-1880-works-mosque-ceiling-mural-lossHow fallen plaster in 1880 led to a Baroque vault's collapse in Córdoba's Villaviciosa chapel, uncovering an Islamic ceiling as a Gothic mural cycle vanished.Mon, 12 Oct 2026 10:25:56 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-cueva-del-angel-lucena-prehistoryhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-cueva-del-angel-lucena-prehistoryCueva del Ángel near Lucena: 46 handaxes, burnt bone and one 104,300-year-old tooth. What the Neanderthal headline rests on, and what to check before visiting.Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:57:16 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-bridge-funded-womens-jewelleryhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-bridge-funded-womens-jewelleryMontoro's Puente Mayor is famed as the bridge women paid for with jewels. ABC cites a heritage group dating the name to the 1980s; records name the council.Sat, 10 Oct 2026 16:08:43 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/spain-museum-thefts-2026-cordoba-heritagehttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/spain-museum-thefts-2026-cordoba-heritageThree Spanish museums lost gold in 2026, none in Córdoba. Why thieves want metal that melts, and what looting cases in Córdoba province show about the trade.Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:22:20 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cabra-name-origin-not-goathttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cabra-name-origin-not-goatCabra's name runs from ancient Igabrum through Egabrum and Arabic Qabra. The records rule out the poet story and make the goat link a later association.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 20:38:57 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-roman-mosaics-renaissance-perspectivehttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-roman-mosaics-renaissance-perspectiveThe Roman mosaics found under the Plaza de la Corredera are in the Alcázar's Hall of Mosaics. What they show, and what travel blogs claim that sources don't.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 20:55:07 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-women-quran-copyists-scribeshttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-women-quran-copyists-scribesOne chronicler reported 170 women copying Qur'ans in a single Córdoba suburb. Here is what the sources do and don't say about women in the city's book trade.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 14:00:22 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-treasure-british-museumhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-treasure-british-museumA silver hoard dug up in Córdoba in 1915 left Spain against the law and has been in the British Museum since 1932. Here is how, and what a 2026 study found.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:59:33 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/lucena-cordoba-jewish-self-governed-cityhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/lucena-cordoba-jewish-self-governed-cityLucena's Jewish community had an elected rabbi, a famous yeshiva and a cemetery found in 2006. What the sources say about its autonomy, and what you can visit.Sun, 04 Oct 2026 11:51:45 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/chess-shatranj-cordoba-court-historyhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/chess-shatranj-cordoba-court-historyA Córdoba court did not smuggle chess into Europe, at least not on paper. The records point to Count Ermengol of Urgell, called el de Córdoba, and his will.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:07:43 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/fuenteovejuna-collective-confessionhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/fuenteovejuna-collective-confessionIn 1476, Córdoba villagers tortured for the truth gave one answer: the town did it. The real story behind Lope de Vega's play is a tax war, not a fairy tale.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 07:00:53 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-caliphal-mint-coinshttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-caliphal-mint-coinsIn 929 Abd al-Rahman III struck Córdoba's first caliphal gold dinar, part of the wider Islamic silver economy whose dirhams reached Viking-age Scandinavia.Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:27:54 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/ruiz-dynasty-architects-cordoba-renaissancehttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/ruiz-dynasty-architects-cordoba-renaissanceMeet Córdoba's three Hernán Ruiz architects through the 1523 transept, Orive's 1560 façade and the bell-tower campaign begun in 1593, with careful attributions.Mon, 21 Sep 2026 06:48:57 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/torreparedones-3500-year-city-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/torreparedones-3500-year-city-cordobaTorreparedones, on a hilltop between Baena and Castro del Río, has been open to visitors since 2011. Only about a tenth of its 3,500-year city has been dug.Sun, 20 Sep 2026 15:10:45 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/mellaria-roman-mining-city-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/mellaria-roman-mining-city-cordobaMellaria hid at Cerro de Masatrigo on the road to Mérida. 2026 University of Córdoba digs reveal its ceramics, aqueduct, road network and river fishing gear.Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:33:32 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/battle-of-alcolea-bridge-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/battle-of-alcolea-bridge-cordobaA single bridge outside Córdoba decided Spain's fate twice: in 1868, the Battle of Alcolea forced Isabella II into exile and opened the Sexenio Democrático.Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:54:52 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/fuente-alamo-roman-library-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/fuente-alamo-roman-library-cordobaA 2026 study reidentifies a Córdoba-province villa room, catalogued for decades as a Mithras shrine, as Iberia's oldest documented Roman private library.Sat, 12 Sep 2026 11:14:54 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/punic-war-elephant-bone-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/punic-war-elephant-bone-cordobaA radiocarbon-dated elephant bone near Córdoba may be the first physical evidence of a Carthaginian war elephant, though not one of Hannibal's own Alps herd.Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:27:05 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-1808-napoleonic-sackhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-1808-napoleonic-sackIn June 1808, French troops sacked Córdoba's churches and palaces on a flimsy pretext — and dragged the plunder into the disaster at Bailén weeks later.Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:14:26 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-pre-roman-walls-discoveryhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-pre-roman-walls-discoveryA May 2025 survey found possible pre-Roman wall foundations on Córdoba's Guadalquivir riverbank, where a campsite project's future is still undecided for now.Wed, 09 Sep 2026 10:12:22 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/madinat-al-zahira-lidar-discoveryhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/madinat-al-zahira-lidar-discoveryA January 2026 LiDAR survey locates Almanzor's rival capital Madinat al-Zahira (not Medina Azahara) 12km east of Córdoba, resolving 22 competing theories.Tue, 08 Sep 2026 17:31:07 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/ephebes-pedro-abad-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/ephebes-pedro-abad-cordobaIn 2012, Spanish police stopped a black-market sale of the Ephebes of Pedro Abad, rare Roman bronzes now the only such pair on display in Córdoba today.Tue, 08 Sep 2026 14:39:59 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/meandro-de-montoro-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/meandro-de-montoro-cordobaCórdoba's Guadalquivir wraps Montoro on three sides, a bend protected since 2011 as a Natural Monument, and the reason locals call the town 'Toledo Andaluz'.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:26:38 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/al-andalus-eclipses-medieval-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/al-andalus-eclipses-medieval-cordobaCórdoba's medieval astronomers had the mathematics to time an eclipse precisely, yet no surviving chronicle records one actually witnessed from this city.Sat, 05 Sep 2026 19:48:19 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/al-andalus-tourism-boom-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/al-andalus-tourism-boom-cordobaWhy the Al-Andalus travel segment is booming in 2026: 16 million Muslim arrivals to Southern Europe, the caliphal origin story, and what it means for Córdoba.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 15:46:28 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/papermaking-arrives-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/papermaking-arrives-cordobaHow rag-paper mills reached Córdoba and al-Andalus: Xàtiva's 1056 works, the hemp-and-linen method, and the supply chain that fed al-Hakam II's copyists.Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:54:08 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/siege-of-corduba-caesarhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/siege-of-corduba-caesarAfter Munda in 45 BC, Julius Caesar besieged Roman Corduba, executed the garrison of armed slaves, and forced Pompey's capital to pay a heavy indemnity.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 20:44:33 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/slave-market-cordoba-16th-centuryhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/slave-market-cordoba-16th-centuryCórdoba's 16th-century slave trade sat in Seville's shadow, fed by Portuguese trading networks reaching the Guinea coast, its own record thin but real.Sun, 02 Aug 2026 10:43:25 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/roman-circus-cordoba-chariot-raceshttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/roman-circus-cordoba-chariot-racesCórdoba's Roman circus stood outside the walls of Colonia Patricia and was identified in 1996 from seating foundations. Here is what the excavations show.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:05:38 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-fuero-ferdinand-iii-charterhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-fuero-ferdinand-iii-charterFerdinand III granted Córdoba the Fuero Juzgo on 10 March 1241 — a Visigothic code in Castilian. It created 14 parishes and governed the city 600+ years.Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:20:12 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-spanish-civil-war-1936https://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-spanish-civil-war-1936On 18 July 1936, a coup plunged Córdoba into the Spanish Civil War: Plaza de las Tendillas seized, thousands executed, and a failed August counter-offensive.Wed, 15 Jul 2026 09:44:30 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/etymology-of-cordoba-namehttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/etymology-of-cordoba-nameThe name Córdoba has passed through five civilisations, each leaving a phonetic trace on the word: from Iberian Corduba to Arabic Qurṭuba to Castilian Córdoba.Wed, 08 Jul 2026 09:49:52 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/vikings-cordoba-844https://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/vikings-cordoba-844In 844 a Norse fleet took unwalled Seville while Córdoba's emir ruled upriver. Here is what he built in response to it, and what later retellings invented.Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:21:16 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/guadalquivir-mills-historyhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/guadalquivir-mills-historyIn 1492 Isabella I ordered Córdoba's Albolafia wheel pulled down because it kept her awake. Eleven Guadalquivir mills, three civilisations, one story.Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:18:46 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/noor-gastroarchaeology-cordobahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/noor-gastroarchaeology-cordobaPaco Morales spent years in medieval manuscripts before opening Noor. What caliphate food córdoba actually was — and how he rebuilt it without a single tomato.Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:54:58 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/martyrs-of-cordoba-850https://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/martyrs-of-cordoba-850Between 850 and 859 AD, 48 Christians walked into Córdoba's courts and denounced Muhammad. Who they were, why they did it, and what split their own community.Thu, 25 Jun 2026 23:10:53 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-before-the-mezquitahttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/cordoba-before-the-mezquitaWhat stood on the Mezquita site before 785? Roman Corduba, Visigothic bishops, and a contested basilica: the archaeology of pre-Islamic Córdoba explained.Mon, 22 Jun 2026 23:06:17 GMThttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/mezquita-prayer-banhttps://www.explorecordoba.com/articles/mezquita-prayer-banThe Mezquita prayer ban dates to 2003, when Muslims were reportedly ejected mid-prayer. The Church registered it for a fee in 2006. Naming remains disputed.Sat, 20 Jun 2026 22:41:21 GMT