NO. XXVII.—CORDUBA.
Reading edition
"Are we at Cordova?" says a modern writer. "The whole reign of the Omniad Caliphs passes, in mental review, before us. Once the seat of Arabian art, gallantry, and magnificence, the southern kingdom of Spain was rich and flourishing. Agriculture was respected; the fine arts cultivated; gardens were formed; roads executed; palaces erected; and physics, geometry, and astronomy, advanced. The inhabitants were active and industrious; accomplishments were held in esteem; and the whole state of society formed a striking contrast to that of every other in Europe."
It was situated in Hispanic Bœtica, having been built by Marcellus. It was the native place of both the Senecas, and Lucan. Indeed, it produced, in ancient times, so many celebrated characters, that it was styled the "mother of men of genius." Its laws were written in verse; and its academy was partly distinguished for its cultivation of the Greek language, as well as for rhetoric and philosophy. It became celebrated, also, under the Moors.
Of its ancient grandeur, however, Cordova has preserved nothing but a vast inclosure, filled with houses, half in ruins. Its long, narrow, and ill-paved streets are almost deserted; most of the houses are uninhabited; and the multitude of churches and convents which it contains, are besieged by a crowd of vagabonds, covered with rags. The ancient palace of the Moors has been converted into stables, in which, till within these few years, one hundred Andalusian horses were usually kept. Their genealogy was carefully preserved; and the name and age of each written over the stall in which he stood. In the place appropriated to bathing, is part of a Cufic inscription.
Cordova was called at first Corduba, and afterwards Colonia Patricia, as appears from inscriptions on the numerous medals which have been discovered in this city and neighbourhood.
From the Romans it passed successively under the dominion of the Goths and Arabs; and, while the latter swayed the sceptre of Spain, Cordova became pre-eminently distinguished, as we have just stated, as the seat of arts, sciences, and literature.