Moorish Spain

Moorish Spain – sample itinerary

  1. Córdoba is the joining point for this tour, and is well served by the high-speed train network with AVE trains connecting the city with Madrid in 1 hour 50 minutes and Málaga in just one hour. After meeting in the hotel with your Tour Leader you will be taken on an Orientation Tour through the old city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, before dinner in a delightful patio restaurant. As we stroll back to the hotel tonight we’ll see a bridge and remains of a temple from Roman times and walk around the perimeter of the vast c.8 mosque, its walls and towers floodlit at night.
  2. Today we discover the Córdoba of the turn of the last millennium, described in contemporary writings as “The Ornament of the World” on account of its cultural and civic attainments. The highlight will undoubtedly be the Great Mosque, a building unique in its fusion of religions and cultures. Our tour will also include the Judería, former Jewish Quarter of old Córdoba, with entry to a Sephardic Jewish museum and the small c. 13 synagogue. We conclude with a talk on life in c. 10 Córdoba in the relaxing surroundings of an Arab-style tea room, with our expert local guide. This evening you might like to relax in the hammam-style Arab baths, with massages of aromatherapy oils also available.
  3. At the height of Córdoba’s splendour in Muslim times the glittering palace city of Madinat al Zahra was built to symbolise the power of its rulers. When civil war broke out at the end of c. 10 the magnificent city was reduced to rubble by the warring factions. What we see today is the result of pain-staking recreation by archaeologists for over a century, plus an award-winning visitor centre which brings to life the city. In the afternoon we will tour two other significant monuments in Córdoba from the times of the Caliphate, the Alcazares Reales – palaces of the Christian monarchs built over Moorish remains – and the Baños Califales (the private bath-house of the Caliph).
  4. We head south today towards Granada, the last outpost of Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula. En route we will visit two imposing Moorish frontier castles, as we learn of the history of the centuries-long siege that finally led to the surrender of Granada in 1492. Life in the sultanate of Granada is the focus of a guided walk in the historic Albaicín district this afternoon, exploring this once densely populated area where estimates suggest as many as 40,000 people lived in the latter part of c. 15. As we explore its narrow streets and alleyways our guide will relate the customs of the time as well as the dramatic changes that the neighbourhood underwent upon the Christian occupation.
  5. After the spectacular views of the Alhambra, framed by the backdrop of the Sierra Nevada, on yesterday’s walk through the Albaicín, today we visit the complex and see it at close hand. Our guided tour will take in the Generalife gardens, the palaces of the Nasrid sultans, and the Alcazaba fortress, with free time thereafter to visit the Palace of Charles V, the gardens of El Partal, or the Hispano-Muslim Museum. This evening we venture into the distinctive Sacromonte area, to dine in a local restaurant and then see live flamenco in one of the gypsy cave houses – a special setting for this vibrant art form.
  6. Today is a free day, with a choice of optional small group activities. The culture of Moorish Spain is still maintained in many aspects of modern-day Spain, and these workshops all connect in one way or another with those influences. The tiles of the Alhambra are the inspiration for a Ceramic Tile Painting class in the studio of a local artist; the leather work for which Muslim Spain was famed throughout medieval Europe is the subject of a second craft activity, and the culinary influences in Spanish cuisine from the Arab world are the focus of a cookery demonstration in the kitchen of an Albaicín resident.
  7. We visit Ronda today, a town whose capture by the Christians in 1485 opened the way towards their conquest of Granada. Here we will see a well preserved section of Arab city walls, one of the best examples of a Muslim bath-house, and a secret stairwell, hewn out of the towering rock-face, by which the Christian troops entered Ronda. This evening in Sevilla we will walk by the floodlit cathedral, admiring the tall, slender Giralda, once the minaret to the main mosque, now the cathedral’s bell-tower. We will also depart on an evening river cruise from moorings next to the Torre de Oro, a watchtower that controlled shipping on the Guadalquivir in Moorish times.
  8. Our final day is devoted to Seville where the Moorish legacy, although not as tangible as in Córdoba or Granada, is nevertheless still an important cultural influence. After climbing the Giralda for great views of the city we visit the Alcázar, where we will learn of the evolution of a c. 11 Moorish palace into a sumptuous Castilian court in the mid c.14 when craftsmen forged elements of Christian and Muslim architecture to form a unique synthesis called “mudéjar”. We see modern repetitions of this later on in the Parque María Luisa where the centrepiece of the 1929 Ibero-American Expo stands, the “neo-Mudéjar” fantasy of the Plaza de España.
  9. There are various alternatives for onward travel from Seville: the high-speed train service links the city with Málaga (and its international airport) as well as Madrid and Barcelona; or the local airport offers flights to a variety of Spanish and European destinations. Or, of course, you may like to stay on in Seville or this region for a few more days in which case please contact us for details of our Post-Tour Extensions.