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All Spain Córdoba Estrella de los Deseos (Wishing Star)
AO Edited

Estrella de los Deseos (Wishing Star)

Touching this little fossil embedded in the wall of a grand mosque-cathedral may make your wishes come true.

Córdoba, Spain

Added By
Luis Morato
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the fossil is a type of sea urchin   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Detail of the fossil embedded in the wall of the Mosque-Cathedral   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
touching the star   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
To touch the little star “to the wish be fulfilled”   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
A Clypeaster specimen in its natural environment   John Martin Davies
View of the wall of the Mosque-Cathedral, where the little star is situated   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
  RachelCassidy / Atlas Obscura User
  Ariberna / Atlas Obscura User
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About

If you look closely, you can find a little star embedded in the wall of the Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba. Known to some as the Estrella de los Deseos (Wishing Star), this star exactly is located in a corner of the Cathedral-Mosque, next to Torrijos street. It is actually a type of fossil. People who walk by often touch it and make a wish, just in case it will be fulfilled.

Despite the alleged magical properties that have been attributed to it by the ordinary people, the wishing star is just a common fossil typical of the calcarenite stone used in the façade of the building, which was hidden when the pillar was carved and used to build the wall. As the limestone eroded over time the fossil, which was made of a sturdier material, started to become visible. That must have been a surprise, hence its alleged miraculous power.

The fossil that now can be seen completely is a type of an equinoideo, and the shell of a Clypeaster, a type of marine sea urchin.

Related Tags

Mosques Fossils Legends

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Added By

Luis Morato

Edited By

RachelCassidy, Ariberna

  • RachelCassidy
  • Ariberna

Published

March 23, 2021

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Sources
  • http://folklore-fosiles-ibericos.blogspot.com.es/2016/12/
  • https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Clypeasteroida
  • https://cordobapedia.wikanda.es/wiki/Estrella_de_los_Deseos
  • https://www.notascordobesas.com/2017/01/de-la-estrella-de-los-deseos-del-blog.html?m=0
  • https://cordobapedia.wikanda.es/wiki/Estrella_de_los_Deseos
  • http://folklore-fosiles-ibericos.blogspot.com/2016/12/un-fosil-cordobes-de-dificil.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clypeaster
  • https://www.notascordobesas.com/2017/01/de-la-estrella-de-los-deseos-del-blog.html?m=1
Estrella de los Deseos (Wishing Star)
2 Calle Torrijos
Córdoba, 14003
Spain
37.878085, -4.779723
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