At the heart of the historic Andalusian city of Cordoba lies one of the most visited touristic spots in the country, our Mosque-Cathedral. Each year, thousands of tourists enjoy their visit to this World’s Heritage Site (1984), which since 2010 brings its visitors the opportunity to experience a complete different adventure: a guided night tour.
If you truly want to immerse yourself into the ancient history and architecture of the Moorish kingdoms and make your visit at the Mosque of Cordoba unique, in this article we will show you all you need to know about these exclusive tours.
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Night tour: what is it?
The entrance of this route known as “The soul of Cordoba” is located in the Dean’s Gate, one of the several gates that are part of the outer walls of the courtyard of the Mosque-Cathedral. This one in particular was built by Abd al-Rahman I and it allows the access to the Orange Tree Courtyard. After a pleasant walk around the later, the experience begins with the projection of a short film which shows a brief summary of the story of the city and the several extensions that the Mosque-Cathedral has undergone throughout its history under the different caliphs. Once the film ends, the route to visit the inside of the building begins.
A sound and light accompaniment gradually shows the architecture of the site with the help of an audio guide provided at the beginning of this visit, which is available in up to nine languages (Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese and Russian). This guidance allows you to know the history and secrets hidden in every corner of the Mosque’s structure: from the famous semicircular and horseshoe arches present in all its interior of the Mihrab built under the order of Alhaken II; to the Main Chapel, transept and choir located in the centre of the monument. During this tour, each place of interest is progressively illuminated contrasting with the rest of the structure and thus offering prominence to each corner and stop in the history of this Mosque-Cathedral.
“The Soul of Cordoba”: what makes it special?
Unlike regular tours during the day, this night encounter relies on the participation of audiovisual technology that allows the visitor to not only enter more deeply into the historical and artistic events of the place, but also find about the unique beauty of the fusion of two millennial infrastructures such as both the Mosque and the Cathedral. The set of images, lights and sounds not only provides an innovative idea for this tour, but also the required atmosphere to enjoy even more the journey across the several artistic transformations of the monument, surrounding those who visit it with passages from the millennial history that characterizes the city of Cordoba.
Needless to say that the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba is a monument of immense historical and artistic significance, as well as religious, which deserves to be visited both during the day and night. In this way, you will be able to experience both sides of the chosen as one of the top five places of interest in the world in 2018. Without a doubt, the best way to complete your visit to the amazing city of Cordoba, also counting on the Mosque guided tours.
Tickets for the night visits at the Mosque
In this section you will find everything you need to consider when organizing your visit. As of today, these routes are run with a maximum of a hundred people per pass. Each pass costs 18 euros per adult except for people over 65s, students up to the age of 26, the disabled and children aged 7 and over, for whom the entrance fee is reduced to 12 euros. In the case of children under the age of 7 the entry will be totally free and they must be accompanied by a responsible adult in possession of a general pass.
Opening hours for the night visits at the Mosque
These exclusive visits are available throughout the year but may vary depending on the time of the year you plan to join the route: in the months of January, February, November and December they will be available on Fridays and Saturdays; while from March to October they will take place daily except on Sundays. Furthermore, there are only one or two visits per day. As for the duration of the tour, each pass lasts about an hour.
