Spain has a large number of jewels spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula and one of them, without any doubt, is Cordova. This town, the pride of Andalusia and our country, is the only one in the world that has four World Heritage properties. For this reason, every year millions of people from all over the world visit this city that is pure history: in the Roman Empire it was one of the most important cities of the time and after the Muslim invasion it was the capital of the Emirate of Córdoba.
According to data provided by the Municipal Tourism Institute of Córdobain the first six months of 2024 a total of 136,267 tourists visited the city of Cordovarepresenting an increase compared to last year of 13.98%. Of this total, 51% were national visitors and 49% of people were foreigners, increasing more than 10% in both cases. This commitment by the city council to quality tourism seems to be a winner in the last months of the year, in which everything indicates that a historical record will be broken.
Hundreds of thousands of people visit Cordova per year for all the benefits offered by a city in which culture, history and rich gastronomy come together in one of the best cities in Europe that usually has its high temperature during the popular festival of the patios of Cordovayour fair or your Easter weekwhich is a festival of national tourist interest and also considered one of the best in the country.
A procession inside the Patio de los Naranjos of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba. (EP)
Córdoba, the World Heritage city
Cordova can also boast of being the only city in the world to have four assets that are World Heritage. UNESCO, the Cultural, Scientific and Educational Organization of the United Nations and in charge of recognizing these distinctions, granted this privilege in 1984 to the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba and in 1994 extended the title of World Heritage Site to the urban complex that surrounds it. . In 2012, the Festival of the Courtyards of Córdoba was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and in 2018 the Caliphal City of Medina Azahara also received the title of World Heritage Site, with Córdoba being the only city in the world to have four of these badges.
In this way, the four properties of Córdoba that are World Heritage Sites by UNESCO are: The Mosque-Cathedral (1984), the historic center that surrounds it (1994), the Festival of Los Patios (2012) and Medina Azahara (2018). «The category of World Heritage is granted with the aim of protecting, identifying and preserving the cultural or natural ancestry that is considered especially valuable. Holding this title entails a series of rights and obligations that this city has deserved,” reports the Córdoba tourism website.
Córdoba has an infinite number of monuments that are the heritage of its history in which the Mosque-Cathedralone of the largest Muslim temples in the world. In this place was the Basilica of San Vicente of Visigoth origin and after the Muslim conquest of the city, it was built by Abderraman I. During this time it was expanded up to three times until the Christian reconquest that created the cathedral. A must-see is the tower and the Patio de los Naranjos. In its day it was awarded as the best site of tourist interest in Europe and sixth in the world.
At the foot of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba lies the historic center, also a World Heritage Site, which is a mix of all the religions that have inhabited throughout history, with the Jewish quarter being one of the most characteristic. Through these streets, and throughout the city, in the first fortnight of May, the Patio Festivalalso recognized by UNESCO and which attracts thousands of tourists. The last World Heritage property is the Medina Azaharawhich is the city that Abd-al Rahman III ordered to be built at the foot of the Sierra Morena, located eight kilometers from Córdoba.
In addition to these monuments, Cordova It also boasts its Fernandina Churches through which you can take a route, its numerous gates and walls as well as countless museums where you can appreciate the culture that the city overflows. That and a rich gastronomy that worships ham, salmorejo (the best in Spain) and flamenquines.
