Around 1000CE the greatest city in the world was Cordoba

Summary

• Around 1000AD, the greatest and most cultured city was Cordoba, capital of Andalusia and run by the Arabs. Not Rome or Paris.

Details

• Cordoba had paved roads, palaces, parks, 700 mosquest, 300 public baths, drainage and sewage systems.
• THe public library had almost 500,000 books. More than any other european library. And there were 70 other libraries in the city.
• It was a center of learning.
• Arab scholars were making advances in astronomy, mathematics, medicine and philosophy. THey developed the decimal system, numbers, the astrolabe, navigational techniques.
• And they refined distillation

References

• A history of the world in 6 glasses - Tom Standage

Related

• The Adventures of Ibn Battuta A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century - Ross E. Dunn and ibn battuta