In the middle of the tenth century, Abd al-Rahman III, the first Caliph of Córdoba, decided that the capital needed a palace city, and he built it a few kilometres to the west, on the lower slopes of the Sierra Morena. Medina Azahara, begun in 936, was a showpiece of caliphal power, intended to impress ambassadors from Byzantium and the Christian kingdoms, with terraces rising up the hillside, a mosque, a mint, gardens and a reception hall of gold and marble. It was a government in stone, and it lasted barely seventy years.
In the civil war that followed the collapse of the caliphate around 1010, the city was sacked and abandoned, and the stone was carried away for other buildings in Córdoba and Seville. The site lay forgotten under fields until excavations began in the early twentieth century, and work continues. The Salón Rico, the great reception hall, has been restored with its rich carved plaster, and its horseshoe arches and floral patterns show the height of caliphal art. UNESCO listed the site in 2018.
The approach from Córdoba is a short, easy ride up a quiet road, and many visitors arrive by shuttle bus from the visitor centre, which sits below the site and has a fine museum. The hillside is hot and exposed, so go in the morning or in the cooler months, wear a hat and carry water. Summers in Córdoba are famous for heat above forty degrees, and the shade is thin.
Villarrubia, about five kilometres away, is a small village of some three thousand people, so use Córdoba for fuel and food. The road from here to Baeza, which the ride follows, crosses the olive country of Jaén, with long gentle bends over rolling hills, the surface mostly good and the traffic light on the minor roads. The olives are harvested in winter, and the smell of the mills is part of the season.
Córdoba's cooking is rich in the Andalusian way: a cold, thick soup called salmorejo, topped with ham and egg, oxtail stew and flamenquín, a roll of ham and pork fried in breadcrumbs. Spring is the best time, when the weather is mild and the orange trees are in blossom.