Cordoba, Spain. Travel Guide.

Truly a treasure astonishing every visitor, Cordoba offers everything a visitor would expect from a major urban destination which is rich in history, culture and vitality. Cordoba once was the largest and probably the most beautiful city in the world.

The city's present charm is largely tied to its Moorish past. Today, the city retains traces of the former glory.

Numerous unique buildings, gardens, and museums make Córdoba one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. Therefore, Córdoba is known as a top tourist destination throughout the nation and beyond.

The former capital of the legendary Umayyade Caliphate is a living liability of different cultures that influenced the city and its development over the times. With respect of this liability, Cordoba's people always tied up history and presence.

So ancient buildings were preserved and lovingly restored. However, the city has a modern infrastructure fitting the needs of the 21st century.

One building alone is reason enough to put Córdoba high on your itinerary: the mesmerising multiarched Mezquita. One of the world's greatest Islamic buildings, the Mezquita is a symbol of the worldly, sophisticated culture that flourished here more than a millennium ago when Córdoba was capital of Islamic Spain and western Europe's biggest, most cultured city.

But today's Córdoba is much more than the Mezquita. With a lot to see and do, some charming accommodation, and excellent restaurants and bars, it merits far more than the fleeting visit many travellers give it.

Córdoba's real charms unfold as you explore the winding, stone-paved lanes of the medieval city to the west, north and east of the gaudy touristic area immediately around the Mezquita, wandering between wrought-iron balconies and lamps, potted plants, overhanging trees, golden-stone buildings and verdant interior patios, emerging every few minutes on yet another quaint little hidden plaza. .