The Christians King’s Fortress, mirror of the history of Cordoba (II)

Nowadays, the Fortress is a gothic square-shaped building of around 4,000 m². Its four towers are well preserved: the tower of the Homenaje in the Northeast end, the one of the León in the Northwest and the one of the Inquisition or the Gardens in the Southeast. All them are communicated through a narrow corridor (called Camino de Ronda). This corridor runs along the wall and is protected by the merlons. The fourth tower wall called Vela or Paloma.

Inside the complex there is a rectangular Moorish courtyard whose walls are covered by stucco baseboard with original Arabic drawings.

There are also Roman baths which became afterwards the Royal Baths used by the Caliph. They are under the Salón de los Mosaicos. This room was the Chapel of the Inquisition and it was built in the XVIII century. It is called Salón de los Mosaicos because its walls are decorated with Roman mosaics and other creations of the II and III century.    

These mosaics were found in the excavations of 1959 in Plaza de la Corredera, an area which was outside the fortified complex of Colonia Patricia Corduba.  This mosaic represents Polifemo and Galatea.

Another mosaic represents the head of Medusa, an important Roman mythological character. It is the symbol of the strength and the power.

Another of the treasures of the Fortress is the Roman sarcophagus of the III century. It was found in the excavations of the Huerta de San Rafael del Brillante in 1958. The main engraving is the half-opened Hades' door.

Outside the Fortress is what was originally the Fortress garden, where there are gardens with an approximate extension of 55,000m² where. The gardens has a great variety of autochton plants characteristics of an Arabic garden: orange trees, lemon trees, fountains, cypresses, ponds and palm trees.

This place captivates with its history and relaxes with its gardens allowing the visitor to remember that visit for a long time.  

The Christians King’s Fortress, mirror of the history of Cordoba (I)

Cordoba was known as the city of the 700 taverns. It was founded about the year 152 bC and it was the capital of Hispania Baetica, one of the two provinces of Hispania Ulterior (further Hispania). The other province of Hispania Ulterior was Lusitania.

The Romans made a commercial harbor in the Guadalquivir River and next to it they constructed a building where the Governor and the Quaestor lived. Customs (Forum Censorium) was also located in the building. The one and only Julius Caesar lived there when he was the Quaestor in the year 65 bC. The dimensions of this building were even larger than the current Fortress.

When the Arabs arrived they built over the ruins of the Omaya Palace. Next to the Fortress the Emir Al-Hakan I ordered the construction of two big stables to shelter his more than 2000 Arab pure blood horses. After the conquest those horses were used by the Christian Kings. 

When the Caliph Abd Al-Rahman III ascended to the throne, the Fortress lost importance in favor of the Medinat Al-Zahra. From this Arab epoch the only remains are the Baths of Caliphate, moldings and some geometric decoration in friezes and skirting boards. 

The Christian troops of the King Saint Ferdinand III reconquered the city in 1236 and then the Fortress was used as the royal residence. Alfonso X the Wise was the one who started to use the Fortress as a real fortress and it was Alfonso XI the Avenger in 1328 who fortified the fortress with walls and towers which are still well preserved. 

In 1482 the Fortress became the headquarters of the Catholic King’s troops and it was also their residence for eight years during the fight to conquer back the Reign of Granada, which was the last Spanish territory governed by the Muslims. This territory was recovered the 2nd January 1492, when the King Boabdil El Chico surrendered to the King Ferdinand and the Queen Isabel. The capitulations had been previously signed the 25th November 1491.

One of the daughters of the Catholic Kings, María, was born in the Fortress, and the first bullfight that took place in Cordoba was celebrated in the gardens of the Fortress. That bullfight was in the honor of one of the Catholic Kings’ son, Juan.

In the year 1486 the Kings received in the Fortress to Christopher Columbus.

In 1492, when Spain was reunified, the Kings left Cordoba and authorized the Inquisition to use the Fortress as their headquarters. Due to this new use some of the areas of the Fortress were modified, for example, they built dungeons as well as balconies in two of their four towers in order to hang the condemned.

The Inquisition used the Fortress until it was abolished by the Cadiz Cortes in 1812. After that it was used as a civil prison from 1822 to 1932 and then it became a military facility until 1955 when the building and the garden were given to Cordoba City Hall. 

The 4th of June of 1931 it was qualified as a Historical Monument and in 1994 it was considered together with an area of Cordoba as World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

2004 Calvario, a great “terroir” wine

Our Colombians friends, who are on holidays in Spain, have come to visit us. Since they are great friends we take this opportunity to open this Rioja wine which is considered “high range” due to its price.

This wine comes from Finca Allende’s winery, in the village of Briones, in Rioja Alta, only 7 kilometers away from Haro. This winery is the dream of its owner, the oenologist Miguel Ángel de Gregorio. He wanted to make a Rioja wine of “terroir” and he founded his winery in 1995. The wine is named “Calvario” (Calvary) due to the station of the cross which ends in a small mountain considered as the Calvary. The winery is located in one of the hillsides, and that is why the wine was called “Calvario”.

The grapes used to make this wine come from a vineyard planted in 1945 that it is not bigger than 4.96 acres of clayey soil with gravel and stones. The winery has a total of 103.97 acres: 1 acre of white grape (60% of Viura and 40% of Malvasía) and the rest is black grape (95% is Tempranillo – older than 45 years-, 4% of Graciano and 1% of Garnacha –older than 50 years).

The winery has about 2300 casks: 100 American and the rest are French. The annual production is 350000 bottles.

This 2004 Calvario wine is made with Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano grapes and it ages in a new French cask for 14 months.

TASTING

Bordeaux type bottle, dressed with an elegant label. Excelent cork. 14% of alcoholic level.

Sight: Cherry red color, the rim of the wine is ruby. Bright and clean. Several drops are dense.

Nose: It delivers an alluring perfume of red fruits (raspberry), latte toffee, balsamics and toasty new oak, wineskin and cacao.

Mouth: Strong but sweet impression, with excellent structure and correct sharpness with good fruity expression, notes of fine wood and spices. The final taste is pretty long with toasted notes and mature berries.

A round wine, sweet and very elegant: every sip is asking you for more… a great wine, the only disadvantage is the price: 65€. RPQ could be better.