Destinations
Andalusia is a region in southern part of Spain known by its rich cultural heritage, stunning landscapes, and vibrant cities. It is one of Spain’s top tourist destinations, attracting millions of visitors each year. Discover some of the must famous spots in Andalusia
Cordoba
Cordoba is one of the Andalusian cities recognized by the UNESCO as one of the important cities which includes four World Heritage Sites. It is located in the southern part of Spain.
Cordoba was a Roman settlement near to Guadalquivir river. Later it was conquered by the Visigoth followed by Arab Muslims. At that time, during the eighth century, it was a dependent Emirate to the Umayyad Arabs of Damascus. Since the arrival Abd al-Rahman I, Umayyad emir, it was converted to be the capital of Arab Muslims rule. Cordoba was converted to be the capital of the independent Umayyad Emirate of Al-Andalus.
In 929, during the rule of Abd al-Rahman III Cordoba really became a golden city and was proclaimed Capital of the independent Caliphate, being a religious, political, administrative and cultural center of the entire Islamic kingdom in the west.
In that period, Cordoba produced the most famous Andalusian figures such as the philosopher Averroes, Ibn Hazm, and Al-Zahrawi.
In 1013, the Caliphate of Cordoba fell to be replaced by other small kingdoms who fight each other with the objective to have power and to rule.
In 1236, Cordoba was taken over by Christians to be later a part of the Crown of Castile.
In June 1236, the Muslim period passed to Christian era under the rule of Fernando III known as “the Saint”. So many modifications were done in the city, replacing Christian features in place of Arab ones.
Before making the final move against the Muslim Nasarid kingdom of Granada, the Christian kings Elizabeth and Ferdinand met Christopher Columbus in Cordoba who showed them his travel plan to America to which was known by them at that time “the Indies”.
In 20th century Cordoba started to recover some of its lost splendor and important features. The population increased and the University of Cordoba was founded at that time.
Nowadays, the center of Córdoba, Medina-Azahra, Mezquita-Catedral and the Festival de los Patios are considered World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
Granada
Granada, is the city of Alhambra, one of the important monuments which you should visit during your vacation in Spain. Granada is located near to Sierra Nevada mountains (snowing mountains) in south Spain. with four rivers surrounding it: Darro, Genil, Monachil and Beiro. The most known rivers are Darro and Genil where their confluence point is situated in the Roman Bridge. Granada has a height of 783 meters above sea level, which takes one hour approximately by car to reach the Mediterranean coast known as Costa Tropical.
Iberians, Romans, Visigoths, Arabs and Christians occupied the area called nowadays Santa Fe. During Roman domination, Santa Fe was known as iliberri. Visigoth took their influence for a short period to be replaced by the Umayyad Arabic population coming from the region of Syria. Firstly, Arabs were installed in Elvira mountains (near Atarfe) and other mountains named Gharnata which had a mainly Jewish Population so it was known as Gharnata al-Yahud. The population of Granada (Syrian population) played an important role supporting the prince Abed Rahman I, founder of the Emirate of Cordoba under the Umayyad dynasty. The splendor or the region began in the 11th century during the Zirid Taifa of Granada (derived for a north African Berber tribe called Sanhaja who ruled a part in North Africa). The domination of Zirid took place in the civil war of Al-Andalus (fitna) whose leader was Zawi ben Ziri. Some of the construction left until our days of that period was the Old citadel in addition to their palace known as al-Qasaba al-Qadima in the Albaicin neighborhood.
The Almoravids and Almohads ruled the city leaving Alcazar Genil (Genil Palace) as one of the artistic monuments which was later redecorated by the Nasrid rule.
In the 13th century, Almohads left the city to become the capital of the Nasrid Kingdom which ruled over Granada, Malaga and Almeria. In that period, a great number of monuments were constructed reflecting an incomparable beauty until our days. The most significant monument of that period was the Alhambra, an Arabic Islamic architecture and one of the most visited sites in Spain.
The Alhambra is more than a Palace. It is a castle, a fortress, a town, gardens for summer retreat. Alhambra Palace is a Palatine city in itself.
Christians took power over Granada in 1492 and progressively the city style was transformed into a Christian one.
The 16th century showed a Mudejar, Renaissance and Baroque flourished style regarding architecture and different features of the city.
So many constructions were demolished between 1810 – 1812 due to the French Napoleon’s army, in addition to the Spanish Civil war which ended in 1936. Recently, Granada has shown a high number of visitors due to its history and Alhambra citadel which is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Malaga
Malaga is one of the main cities in Spain during Al-Andalus period. It has half million inhabitants in its main central city. It is considered the second largest city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth largest one in Spain. It lies on the Mediterranean sea, on Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) shore, one of the most gorgeous shores of Spain. The climate is known by its mild winters and hot summers with its shiny long days most times in the year.
It was founded in 770 BC by the Phoenicians denominating the region as Malaka. It was considered as a trade point between Phoenicia and the Gibraltar. Later it was conquered successively by the Carthaginian in the 5th century BC controlling the area which extends from Gibralfaro hill until Guadelmedina river until 218 BC. Later it was occupied by Romans giving the city a new perspective, with a port and a theater known as “Roman Theater” and considered the oldest one in Spain.
After the Roman period, Malaga was controlled by the Visigoths for a short period beginning from 623 until 711. Subsequently, Arabs took control of the city for eight centuries until 1487. In the 13th century Malaga became a part of the kingdom of Granada controlled by the Nasarid dynasty, the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe. In the 15th century, Malaga´s port was the main Nasrid port (followed by the port of Almeria), featuring a notable presence of Genoese merchants. Malaga fell in Christian domination after the siege which surrounded the city on 18 August 1487, to fall under the rule of Elizabeth and Ferdinand.
Malaga is an impressionist city described by Ibn Battuta in 1325, an historian traveler, as “one of the largest and most beautiful towns of Andalusia” where foodstuffs and fruits were abundant.
Pablo Picasso, Malaga´s famous painter, gave Malaga a special beauty and harmony, in addition to different historical figures such as the Jewish philosopher and poet Solomon Ibn Gabirol and the famous Spanish modern actor Antonio Banderas who was born in Malaga 1960.
Seville
According to historians, Seville was a Roman settlement known as Hispalis, located in the centre of an area called Baetica. Baetica was the Roman name of the actual Guadalquivir river which was created on the banks of this river. In the 3rd century BC, it was occupied by Carthaginians for a short period, being defeated by Romans in 206 BC approximately. At that moment, Seville had a splendor age which nowadays has little rest of this flourishing period.
In the 5th century it passed to Visigoth rule for a short time and Seville became an important cultural area featuring the archbishop San Isidoro.
Following the Visigoth, Arabs coming from Damascus ruled over Seville in 711 and changed the name of the city to be known as Ishbilliyah. In the 11th century, Seville passed to be the first Center including the Taifa of Seville known by Banu Abbad. During their rule, Seville entered into another age of splendor, specifically during the Almohades period which began in 1147 and ended in 1212. The Almohades transferred the center of power from Cordoba to Seville.
In 1248, the Almohades lost control of the city in the battle of Navas de Tolosa which is known in Arab history as the Battle of Al-Uqab. This was an important turning point to have control in favor of the Christians under the rule of Ferdinand III, King of the Crown of Castille.
In the 16th century, Seville was experiencing a golden age due to the discovery of the New World “America”, converting Seville into one of the most significant cities in the Western Europe.
In the 19th century, an improvement and expansion was added to the city, where the ancient walls of the Arabic period were demolished to have instead new constructions such as official buildings, railways, squares giving a big urban space to the city.
Moreover, a new event took place in Seville. The most famous one was the Ibero-American Exposition celebrated in 1929. That leads to a new expansion in the city accelerating large projects such as the creation of new public spaces like “Plaza de España” and “Maria Luisa Park”.
In 1992, another Universal Exposition event took place in Seville known as Expo 92 and was to celebrate the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. One hundred countries were represented during six months. Different themes were created on pavilions such as Navigation, Discovery, Nature, Environment, etc. Those acts gave place to plan new projects of construction such as “Alamillo Bridge” and “Centenario Bridge”, both crossing over the Guadalquivir, in addition to many pavilions all around the city.
Actually, Seville is the capital of Andalusia and it is considered the fourth largest city of Spain which contains three World Heritage Sites recognized by Unesco, some of which belonged to the splendor era of Almohades: Alcazar Palace, Cathedral (characterized by Giralda) and General Archive of the Indies.
Madrid
During the middle ages, Madrid was founded under the Arab Umayyad dynasty of Al-Andalus. In 865, Emir Mohamad I of Cordoba ordered the construction of a fortress on the banks of Manzanares River known for Arabs as Mayrit river. The fortress-castle was located near to the actual Spanish Royal Palace and was a linking point between Guadarrama mountains and Toledo. It was constructed with solid walls and other fortifications. In 1086, Madrid passed to Christian domination under Alfonso VI of Castile (Castilla) who ruled the kingdom of Castile located to the north of Spain. During Christian rule, so many symbols of the Arabic period were removed to be replaced by gothic and baroque style arts.
Madrid is the actual capital of Spain and the second largest city in the European Union. The most important companies are located in Madrid, in addition to the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), RAE (Real Academia Española), Cervantes Institute and Fundeu (Foundation of Urgent Spanish).
It contains both historic and modern buildings and streets, in addition to different National Museums such as Museo del Prado, Museo de Reina Sofía and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza.
In the sixteenth century, the capital of Spain moved from Toledo to Madrid during the rule of Philip II king. He was related to the Habsburg dynasty (Austrias) which was ruling in that period in Spain to be known as Madrid de las Austrians.
In 1701, the Habsburg power was replaced by Bourbons House power until our days. The rule was under the reign of the king Philip V who carried out a development plan of Fountains, gardens, building, and the Royal Palace. This helped the change of the appearance of the city overall.
In the 19th century, Madrid was facing some very tense moments against the French occupation in 1808 and at the beginning of the Spanish Independence war.In the 20th century, during the death of General Franco in 1975, the Spanish Constitution was declared in Madrid and a transition period moved Spain from a regime of dictatorship into a democratic government.
