Short answers, pulled from the story.
By the 10th century Córdoba was the second-largest city in Europe, home to more than 80 libraries and institutions of learning, with expertise in medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and botany that far exceeded the rest of the continent. Its economy produced leather goods, metalwork, glazed tiles, textiles, and a range of agricultural products including cotton, flax, and silk.
Abd ar-Rahman I established Córdoba as the capital of his Emirate in 756, after defeating the governor Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri at a battle outside the city in May of that year. In 929, Abd ar-Rahman III declared himself caliph, elevating Córdoba to the capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba.
The Mezquita-Catedral, also called the Great Mosque of Córdoba, was built on the orders of Abd ar-Rahman I between 784 and 786 AD and was for centuries the third-largest mosque in the world. It blends Islamic, Roman, and Visigothic architectural elements, was converted to a Catholic cathedral after the Christian conquest in 1236, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
Ferdinand III entered Córdoba on the 29th of June 1236 following a siege of several months. After the conquest, the Great Mosque was converted into a Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and Ferdinand III granted the city a fuero in 1241 based on the Liber Iudiciorum and the customs of Toledo.
Córdoba's extreme summer heat is due to its location in the Guadalquivir Valley, which is considered the region with the hottest summer in Europe and among the hottest in the world outside arid or semi-arid zones. Average highs reach 37 degrees Celsius in July and August, and the city records on average 16 days per year with maximums above 40 degrees Celsius.
Córdoba was the birthplace of the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger, his father the orator Seneca the Elder, and the poet Lucan. The city also produced the Islamic philosopher Averroes, the Jewish philosopher and rabbi Maimonides, the Islamic physician Abu al-Qasim Zahrawi, and the Renaissance poet Luis de Góngora.