The royal entourage sailed from Livorno the 18th of September of 1668. The ship would then reach Barcelona the 29th, and from the coast the entourage made its way into the country, first Zaragoza, later Madrid, and then finally the head South. They entered the city of Córdoba the 8th of December from where they would travel to Granada the 14th of that same month.
Cosimo de Medici was welcomed by the city’s Spanish government officials and a crowd of keen citizens. However on account of him not being on an official visit he decided to stay at a Monastery –although there is no way of knowing where he stayed we do know of its proximity to Cardenal Salazar’s Hospital within the Jewish quarter–. The chronicler of the entourage faithfully depicted the effect the city had in them. They visited the Mezquita the first day and then the church of Saint Agustín and the chronicler wrote:
“lla piu bella, moderna e ricca, clie si sia veduta in Spagna essendo tutta falta con bellissimi archi di tre navi lavorate di gesso e tutti il lavori per tutto dorati oltre le pitture frammesse e belle cappelle"
“the most beautiful, modern and rich that Spain has ever seen, decorated with splendid three level nave arches plus all the golden works and the frame paintings and the astonishing chapels”
There is however another fact beside the chronicles by the doctor Giovan Battista Gornia. What made this visit something truly remarkable was the presence among the royal entourage of the Pier Maria Baldi (Florence 1630-1686), Baroque architect and painter that portrayed the whole journey throughout Europe while at the service of Cosimo de Medici.
Detail of Santiago quarter and some of its monuments.
He painted more than 200 hundred panoramic views of European cities, a major reference when depicting how those cities were back then. Needless to say he also made a panoramic view of Córdoba. He chose the Fuensanta quarter as a point of view, instead of the more commonly used spot: the south riverbank where the Calahorra tower is at. This fact depicted the Mezquita and the Roman bridge in a second plane and brings our beloved Santiago quarter up front, hence we can appreciate the disappeared Baeza’s gate and the Tower of the Seven Corners or the Church of Saint Nicholas of the Axerquía.
Despite some artistic licenses the sketch is very accurate as far as the city’s architectonic features is concerned.
Click here to further contemplate and study Baldi’s panoramic view.