Córdoba

Convivencia, meaning living together, describes relations between the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities of Al-Andalus between 711 and 1492. Distinct in identity but joined in commerce and learning, they produced a common Andalusi culture.

Córdoba was the capital of Muslim Spain from the eighth century to the eleventh, and for much of that time the largest and most cultivated city of the western Mediterranean. This article follows the city itself: its Roman origins, its rise under the Umayyads, its court and learning, and its fall.

The Great Mosque of Córdoba (Mezquita) is one of the most magnificent examples of Islamic architecture. Built over two centuries by Umayyad rulers, it features horseshoe arches and represents the pinnacle of Moorish achievement in Spain.

The Islamic Golden Age (8th-13th centuries CE) represents the pinnacle of Islamic civilization, characterized by unprecedented achievements in science, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, literature, and the arts, centered in Baghdad, Córdoba, Cairo, and other major Islamic cities.

Lubna of Córdoba (10th century CE) was an Andalusian scholar, mathematician, and calligrapher who served as royal secretary and palace librarian under Caliph Al-Hakam II. She mastered mathematics, grammar, poetry, and calligraphy, symbolizing women's intellectual achievements in Al-Andalus.

Madinat al-Zahra was the palatine city built from 936 CE by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Rahman III west of Córdoba as the seat of the Caliphate of Córdoba. Sacked within a century, it lay buried until excavations began in 1911 and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.