Cordoba is one of the «legendary cities» of the area of contact between the Arab-Muslim world and the Christian world. In this article we have tried to show the splendour of the ancient capital of the Umayyads of al-Andalus since they chose it, instead of Seville, as the capital of one of the provinces of the Damascus Caliphate after the Arab conquest of the 8th century until its occupation by the Christians in 1236. In the 9th century, the city, under the Emirate, undergoes a very fast process of growth and orientalization and, in the 10th century, a tremendously brilliant peak during the Caliphate. Together with the two princely cities built in the vicinity, around the year 1000 it is one of the largest conurbations of the Mediterranean world. The fall of the Caliphate at the beginning of the 11th century puts an end to its political predominance. Living on its previous glory and in spite of its demographic decrease, it still maintains a certain cultural splendour during the 11th and 12th centuries, until it is finally substituted by Seville. However, its incomparable great mosque and the remains of the nearby caliphal city of Madinat al-Zahra still witness this glorious legacy.
Qurtuba, Cordoba, al-Andalus, history.