Puente Romano and the Calahorra at blue hour

The bridge stands on Roman foundations and has been rebuilt in every century since; what you walk on today is pedestrian-only stone, sixteen arches long, with the Torre de la Calahorra guarding the south bank and the Puerta del Puente arch on the north. Behind that arch, the Mezquita's bell tower closes the view.

Because no cars cross it, the bridge itself is a set: a couple can stand mid-span with the whole city behind them and nothing in the frame but stone, water and sky. Downstream, the Molino de la Albolafia — a medieval waterwheel — sits in the shallows and gives a foreground for wider compositions.

Blue hour is the reason to be here. The Mezquita, the gate and the bridge are all lit, and for around twenty-five minutes after sunset the sky stays blue enough to keep colour in the water. Before that, the last half hour of daylight puts the sun straight down the river from the west, which lights the arches from the side and throws long shadows across the deck.

Córdoba is one of the hottest cities in Europe: in July and August anything between eleven and eight in the evening is a health question, not a lighting one, and the standard answer is a session at dawn. May brings the patio festival and with it the year's biggest crowds. The Mezquita has its own ticketing, with an early-morning window whose rules change — check them before you promise an interior.