LANDS OF LIQUID GOLD: ¡ESTUPENDO!” That’s the superlative I shouted about 20 times a day during my recent voyage of discovery through Cordoba and Jaen, two of the eight provinces which make up the autonomous region of Andalucia in the south of Spain.

Three of those provinces – Malaga, where mass tourism was born on the Costa del Sol, plus Seville and Granada – are among Europe’s most famous and perennially popular holiday destinations. Yet the neighbouring cities and countrysides of Jaen, Cordoba, Baeza and Ubeda are relatively unknown, even though they are endowed with some of the greatest tourist attractions I have encountered in my long career as a travel journalist.

This month and next, I will be introducing you to these great holiday destinations in more detail, as I really want to do justice to them! Among the world-class attractions we visited in a wonderful week of autumnal sunshine, are many which came as a complete surprise. Here are a few tantlising appetizers:

LAND OF OLIVE OIL: I had no idea that we would be driving for hundreds of kilometres on top-class, well sign-posted roads surrounded by 63,831,293 olive trees. Yes, that’s nearly 64 million trees – some of them 400 years old – planted in picturesque groves stretching from the verdant valleys of the River Guadalquivir and its tributaries, to the stony slate-coloured summits of the high sierras. I enjoyed stunning panoramic views while Karen, my one trew love, carefully drove the Avis-rented Ibiza around some scary corners.

Before arriving in the area, I was intrigued to read that the trees around the cities of Jaen, Baeza and Ubeda produce around 20 percent of the world’s olive oil. That’s a lot. However, It was not until that we started touring and saw virtually nothing else in the landscape but thousands upon thousands of olive trees, that we came to realise why these provinces deserve to be known as The Lands of Liquid Gold. Thanks to prevailing fads and fashions among foodies like me and followers of healthy-diets, olive oil is more popular than ever. That’s why we were absolutely fascinated to spend a morning at the MUSEUM OF OLIVE OIL, located at the Hacienda la Laguna on the A316 between Jaen and Baeza. We proudly told our brilliant Italian-born guide, Andrea Pezzini, that we had no fewer than five half-full bottles of the stuff in our store cupboard back home. He politely told us that it’s best to spend more and use just one bottle of fresh, cold-pressed oil…

BIGGEST IN EUROPE: It also came as a big surprise for us to learn that CORDOBA, which is now a modern mid-size provincial capital, was the largest, most prosperous and highly cultured city in the Western Europe of the 10th Century, with a mixed population of half a million Muslims, Christians and Jews. We were also astonished to discover that JAEN was once the mightiest Moorish stronghold – and that our superb Parador hotel was built within thousand-year-old fortifications.

TASTY TOURIST ATTRACTIONS: This background of religious and cultural diversity underpins everything tourists can experience to this day, from the architecture of ancient palaces, mosques, churches and synagogues to the appetising variety of tasty tapas served with a smile in bars and bodegas. We ate well in BAEZA and our visit to UBEDA happily coincided with the annual outdoor Tapas Fair which served hundreds of hungry visitors with spicy sausage, paella, barbecued lamb and other local delicacies of various ethnic origins in the colourful Plaza de la Andalucia.

I will be writing more about Jaen, Ubeda and Baeza in the December issue. Places of worship like no others!

I KNEW I was going to like Cordoba even before we arrived at our destination, because the city’s thoughtful road signs directed us effortlessly to the front door of our hotel even though it is enmeshed by narrow streets. No mistakes;no road-rage; no missed turnings; in short, none of the squabbles that sometimes cast a cloud over our stays in places we are visiting for the first time.

I do not know how we ever missed out on Cordoba before, having visited Andalucia a dozen times since 1971, acquiring a taste for some Andalucian passions -- flamenco, bullfighting and bacalao (salt cod) -- along the way. This city of is a delightful blend of old and new, with fashionable boulevards running alongside ancient alleyways and SmartCars contesting the roads with horse-drawn tourist carriages. The city’s most famous native son, Manuel Benitez aka ‘El Cordobes the Beatle Bullfighter’, was one of my heroes in the Sixties. (Have a look at his YouTube bullfights to see why). He lives in quiet retirement outside the city and occupies the position that George Best once enjoyed in relation to Belfast.

Thanks to my good friends in Dublin, London and Spain who tirelessly promote the less-well-known aspects of Spanish tourism, I was invited to visit the region. That’s how I became an immediate aficionado of Cordoba (population: 325,000) and its unusual attractions. They arranged for us to be shown around by professional guide Isabel Martinez Richter whose knowledge is wide and her enthusiasm infectious. However, if you don’t join a guided tour, all the sights are well waymarked and there’s loads of literature to explain the often complex history behind them.

The word ‘unique’ is overworked in travel literature, yet there is no better description of the MEZQUITA de Cordoba, the world’s one and only Muslim mosque with a Christian cathedral in the middle! You should watch the amazement on the faces of tourists as they walk through the mosque’s ‘forest’ of 850 pillars surmounted by colourful arches, when they are confronted by a vast indoor church complete with golden dome. I know exactly how they feel: the sight of something so unexpected is genuinely astonishing.

The Mosque grew to be the greatest in Europe during the 10th Century. At the height of the Moorish Empire when the region was known as al-Andalus, it could house 40,000 Islamic Cordobans praying towards Mecca. When Christian Kings became predominant, part of the mosque was needlessly destroyed to make way for the cathedral which was started in 1525. Charles V later admitted that the descecration was a mistake. The best way of unwinding the many strands of 10th Century history is to visit the MUSEUM of AL-ANDALUS, housed in CALAHORRA TOWER. A series of 21st Century electronic displays – plus a working model of the Mezquita made in good,old-fashioned balsa-wood – highlights the contribution of some of Cordoba’s melting pot of Christian scholars, Moorish caliphs and Jewish rabbis (including the world-renowned pioneering philosopher, Moses Maimonides).

Maimonides is also celebrated – alongside many other aspects of Spanish-Jewish life -- in the HOUSE OF SEPHARAD, a great cultural centre in the heart of the city’s mediaeval Jewish Quarter, LA JUDERIA, where tourists throng the narrow shop-filled streets surrounding the OLD SYNAGOGUE. I made friends at the Sephardic Centre with Haim Casas who runs the cultural activities there; he reminded me that Queen Victoria’s favourite Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli was descended from Sephardic Jews who ended up in Britain following the Spanish Inquisition.

TOP TIPS FOR CORDOBA

BEST GARDENS: We adored the well-tended formality of the ALCAZAR gardens which reminded me of a mini-Versailles. Long ponds,where technicolour carp are kept cool by tinkling fountains,are bordered by a million scented blooms.A statue recreates the moment when Christopher Colombus was given the go-ahead for his voyage of discovery. The best of Cordoba’s private courtyard gardens, which you normally can only glimpse in passing, are open in May for the annual Patio Festival.I hope to be back!

BEST HOTEL: I recommend the MACIA ALFAROS, tucked away on a narrow one-way street. Its private parking is a boon in a city with few parking spaces. Plentiful breakfast buffet includes local Andalucian specialities. Wonderful outdoor pool in Arab Moorish style is what puts the Alfaros into the top 10 of the city’s 65 hotels.

BEST MEAL: Surrounded by photographs of all the men ( and one woman) who bred the toros bravos (fighting bulls) for the bullrings of Andalucia, we had a memorable lunch in one of the exclusive dining rooms of BODEGA CAMPOS. Crisp table linen and shiny cutlery were the perfect match for traditional dishes such as the speciality Salmorejo, a Cordoban thick cold soup made with sieved tomatoes and bread. As lunch is not cheap, we shared an excellent cuttlefish risotto for our main course and declined a dessert. We discovered (too late) that the downstairs taberna serves the same excellent food at bar prices…

BEST EXCURSION: On the subject of fighting bulls, we saw many of them peacefully chewing the cud together in the fields surrounding one of the most important archeological digs in Spain. Just a few minutes’ drive from Cordoba is MEDINA AZAHARA, a hillside city built from scratch to serve as the Moorish Capital of the Iberian peninsula. Only 10 percent of the site – about the size of ten football pitches -- has been excavated after a century of digging, but the monumental scale of its sublimely decorated buildings is very impressive.

BEST MEMORY OF CORDOBA: We climbed to the flat roof of the Calahorra Tower, which is located on the ROMAN BRIDGE spanning the GUADALQUIVIR for a spectacular close-up of the wetland birds flocking at sunset to roost along the wooded banks of the river. Imagine: A colony of snowy egrets within sight of a Moorish Mosque, Christian Cathedral, Roman Bridge – and just 100 metres from Cordoba’s best tapas bar BODEGA MEZQUITA where we shared a sample platter of six different little desserts to round off a perfect evening…¡Estupendo!

NEXT MONTH in Trew’s Travels I will be highlighting the little-known tourist delights of Renaissance Cities which have been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status – Baeza, Ubeda and the Provincial Capital of Jaen.