The Alchemy Museum ""Al Iksir"" is located in the Jewish quarter Cordoba since 2007 when Salma al Farouki decided to dedicate a space to the study of this practice carried out since ancient times but which had its peak in the city during the Umayyad Caliphate and which was carried out by famous thinkers such as Averroes, Ibn Masarra, Ibn al-Khatib, Ibn Arabí al-Mursi or al-Zahrawi. For the founder, the objective was to dedicate the exhibition to the alchemist Yabir Abu Omar who studied alchemy. the ways of transforming matter laying the foundations of modern science in numerous branches of philosophy, medicine, astronomy or astrology and making Córdoba, the cradle of this discipline in the Middle Ages.
The origin of the word alchemy seems to come from of Ancient Egypt and specifically the name keme, which refers to the dark fertilized earth that is It was formed after the periodic flooding of the Nile River and was capable of transforming inert things into living organisms. This idea of transmutation arrived a multitude of cultures that tried to mutate various substances, the most famous being the one that tried to obtain gold. After the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba, The alchemists and their knowledge were persecuted by the Inquisition until King Philip II in the 16th century decided to compile the medieval recipes and tools that dealt with these matters and keep them in the Escorial Monastery.
The Museum of Alchemy is It is located inside a building built in the 12th century that has been recently renovated to exhibit the materials related to the work of these occultists within a modern museographic program; stones, elixirs, medicines, mortars, stills, formulas and endless instruments that aim to immerse us in the legendary world of alchemists. In addition, the exhibition has other places of interest such as different laboratories, an astronomic observatory installed on the roof and a living room of conferences.
From 10:00 to 20:00.
Other nearby places of interest are the Synagogue, the Bullfighting Museum and the Hospital of Cardinal Salazar.