The different cultures that throughout the centuries have met in this city have enriched it and left a definite mark. The Mosque of Aljama, with the Christian cathedral in its heart, crowns the jewel that makes up the colourful and the whitewash houses of its historical centre.

Founded by the Romans and due to its strategic importance as the highest navigable point of the Guadalquivir River, It became a port city of great importance, used for shipping Spanish olive oil, wine and wheat back to Ancient Rome. The Romans built the mighty bridge crossing the river, now called "El Puente Romano".

But Cordoba's hour of greatest glory was when it became the capital of the Moorish kingdom of El-Andalus, and this was when work began on the Great Mosque, or "Mezquita", which – after several centuries of additions and enlargements – became one of the largest in all of Islam.

When the city was reconquered by the Christians in 1236, the new rulers of the city were so awed by its beauty that they left it standing, building their cathedral in the midst of its rows of arches and columns, and creating the extraordinary church-mosque we see today.