From Sevilla, I made day-trips to some close-by towns – Cordoba, Cadiz, Granada (Alhambra), and Ronda.
I took the train to get to Cordoba and Cadiz (an hour long journey from Sevilla, each). Cordoba, in the 9th – 11th centuries, was one of the most advanced cities in Europe. In 711 AD muslim invader Abd Ar Rahman became emir of Al Andalus. The city of Cordoba flourished mainly under the reign of Abd Ar Rahman III and a number of observatories and libraries were built during this time and Cordoba became an important centre of learning. Cordoba remained under Muslim rule till 1236 when Fernando III took over the city and completed the Christian ‘reconquest’.
Cordoba is famous for the Mezquita which is a pagan church turned mosque turned church. Apparently, the site was a pagan temple and in 785 a mosque was erected here. After the ‘reconquest’ of Cordoba by the Christians, a cathedral was built here in the 16th century. Any visitor who has been to the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul will immediately see the similarity between the two structures. While I felt that the Hagia Sofia looked more Islamic than Christian, the Mezquita looks more Christian than Islamic. The pillars and arches of the original mosque are still standing and these juxtapose with the Christian motifs. The original Mihrab (indicating direction of Kaaba, hence direction of prayer) is still present in this Mosque-Cathedral.
In times past, Cordoba had a sizeable jewish community which lived in their own quarter (judeira). The judeira of Cordoba is very picturesque – with narrow, winding streets with lovely balconies that had beautiful plant boxes and flowers. Very colourful indeed.
Whenever, on my travels, I see an Indian, I always make it a point to say hello and make some conversation. More often than not, I’m warmly greeted and the conversation, though brief, is very pleasant. But in Cordoba, when I introduced myself to this Indian gentleman (in his late 50s), his demeanour became stiff. That really put me off!
Grouchy, I went through the motions of seeing the rest of the sights of Cordoba – Alcazar de Los Reyes Cristianos (a palace/fort complex with lovely gardens, from the 13th century), and the Puento Romano (a bridge from Roman times), before catching my train back to Sevilla.
For seeing Granada / Alhambra, I took the lazy-person’s way out - instead of worrying about transportation and finding a hotel etc. in Granada (from where to explore Alhambra), I just took a tour from Sevilla. Not that it was easy. It was a 3 hour drive to the town of Granada, which is at the foothill of the Alhambra.
The founder of the Nasrid dynasty, Muhammad I, moved his court to Granada in 1237 and built a defensive fort here. Even though Cordoba and Sevilla had fallen to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively, Granada remained under the control of the Moors for another 200 years and was the last part of Spain to be 'reconquered' by the Christians (coincidentally in 1492 - the year Columbus ‘discovered’ America). As Boabdil, the last Moorish Emir was leaving Alhambra he is said to have shed tears and sighed (Moor's last sigh?). Apparently, his mother said to him, "you do well to weep as a woman over what you could not defend as a man."
Granada has a beautiful hill-top Moorish quarter (called Albayzin) which has lovely streets and from here I got my first, and stunning view, of the Alhambra which is spread out on the adjacent hill against the backdrop of the magnificient Sierra Nevada mountains.
Alhambra’s name is derived from Arabic qala’at al hamra meaning red castle on account of its colour. It served as a palace for the Emirs of the Spanish Moorish dynasty before being used by the Christian Kings after the ‘reconquest’. Because of this, it has an interesting amalgam of Muslim and Christian motifs. The complex has many parts – the Alcazba (citadel), Palacio de Carlos V, and the Palacio Nazaries all of which have an interesting mix of Christian and Arabic influences. The complex also has a beautiful set of gardens, the Generalife which was built during the rule of Mohammed III in the early 14th century.
Sadly, during the Napoleonic invasion of Spain, Alhambra was used as barracks by soldiers. Alhambra was ‘re-introduced’ to the world after the publication of Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra which was written after he spent a few months living in the complex in 1820. After marvelling at the beauty of the Alhambra, it was back to Sevilla after a 3 hour journey, during most of which I slept.
The next day-trip was to the port-town of Cadiz. Many historians consider this to be the oldest city in Europe (dating back to 800 BC). It was from here also that Columbus sailed to the Americas. Initially only Sevilla had a monopoly over the trade with the Americas. However, in the 16th c Sevilla’s monopoly was broken and Cadiz was also given the privilege of trading with the Americas.
The town is on the coast of the Atlantic and there are some beautiful beaches here. The to-see sight in Cadiz is the baroque Cathedral. Its construction started in 1716 and, like any good project, ended more than a hundred years later in 1838. The day I was there, a ceremony for young children was on and the entire town was out in their Sunday best. I love climbing church towers because they’re usually the highest point in old towns and afford the best aerial views. Normally there are steep stairs – fortunately the tower for Cadiz Cathedral Torre de Poniente had no steps but instead had a nice easy-to-navigate ramp. Of course, the views from the top – of the town and of the coast – were spectacular.
For lunch – after a couple of well-deserved beers at the local bar – I went to one of my favourite Spanish tapas chains called ‘100 Montaditos’. They offer cheap and tasty tapas on wee pieces of breads. They also have a good selection of vegetarian tapas and – more importantly – the beer is cheap. No I’ve not been employed by them for marketing purposes!
My last day trip was to the beautiful town called Ronda. This was with an old friend of mine Niall (whom I’d met on a trip to Mongolia, and later he’d visited India). It was good to catch up with him. We hired a car (he drove!) and made a day of it with a visit to Ronda. En route we stopped at a Moorish watchtower from where one got 360° views of the beautiful countryside.
Ronda is one of the ‘white towns’ so called because all houses in these towns are painted white. They make a beautiful contrast against the green of the countryside. The town was made famous by Hemingway’s ‘For whom the bells toll’ when the Republicans kill Nationalists by throwing them off the cliff. The cliff is the USP of this town which seems precariously perched on its edge. There are a couple of bridges on this cliff – The Old Bridge and The New Bridge. The latter was completed in 1793 and legend has it that the architect fell to his death while engraving the date of completion of the bridge. Poor guy!
Ronda has Spain’s oldest bull-ring (from 1785) and there is a nice museum and armory here that details the history of the ‘sport’. The Romero family (from Ronda) is responsible for development of modern Spanish bullfighting as they introduced many new facets to the corrida – such as the use of the cape and the use of the sword to ‘kill’ the bull.
On our way back from Ronda, we stopped at the town of Los Palacios where we went to an old fashioned farmer's bar. I tried the local wine – available on tap – and fell in love with it immediately. So much so that I picked up a bottle without remembering that my suitcase was already chock-a-block.
That ended my trip to Andalucia and Sevilla (though technically Ronda is in Malaga).
Next stop Madrid.
I took the train to get to Cordoba and Cadiz (an hour long journey from Sevilla, each). Cordoba, in the 9th – 11th centuries, was one of the most advanced cities in Europe. In 711 AD muslim invader Abd Ar Rahman became emir of Al Andalus. The city of Cordoba flourished mainly under the reign of Abd Ar Rahman III and a number of observatories and libraries were built during this time and Cordoba became an important centre of learning. Cordoba remained under Muslim rule till 1236 when Fernando III took over the city and completed the Christian ‘reconquest’.
Cordoba is famous for the Mezquita which is a pagan church turned mosque turned church. Apparently, the site was a pagan temple and in 785 a mosque was erected here. After the ‘reconquest’ of Cordoba by the Christians, a cathedral was built here in the 16th century. Any visitor who has been to the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul will immediately see the similarity between the two structures. While I felt that the Hagia Sofia looked more Islamic than Christian, the Mezquita looks more Christian than Islamic. The pillars and arches of the original mosque are still standing and these juxtapose with the Christian motifs. The original Mihrab (indicating direction of Kaaba, hence direction of prayer) is still present in this Mosque-Cathedral.
In times past, Cordoba had a sizeable jewish community which lived in their own quarter (judeira). The judeira of Cordoba is very picturesque – with narrow, winding streets with lovely balconies that had beautiful plant boxes and flowers. Very colourful indeed.
Whenever, on my travels, I see an Indian, I always make it a point to say hello and make some conversation. More often than not, I’m warmly greeted and the conversation, though brief, is very pleasant. But in Cordoba, when I introduced myself to this Indian gentleman (in his late 50s), his demeanour became stiff. That really put me off!
Grouchy, I went through the motions of seeing the rest of the sights of Cordoba – Alcazar de Los Reyes Cristianos (a palace/fort complex with lovely gardens, from the 13th century), and the Puento Romano (a bridge from Roman times), before catching my train back to Sevilla.
For seeing Granada / Alhambra, I took the lazy-person’s way out - instead of worrying about transportation and finding a hotel etc. in Granada (from where to explore Alhambra), I just took a tour from Sevilla. Not that it was easy. It was a 3 hour drive to the town of Granada, which is at the foothill of the Alhambra.
The founder of the Nasrid dynasty, Muhammad I, moved his court to Granada in 1237 and built a defensive fort here. Even though Cordoba and Sevilla had fallen to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively, Granada remained under the control of the Moors for another 200 years and was the last part of Spain to be 'reconquered' by the Christians (coincidentally in 1492 - the year Columbus ‘discovered’ America). As Boabdil, the last Moorish Emir was leaving Alhambra he is said to have shed tears and sighed (Moor's last sigh?). Apparently, his mother said to him, "you do well to weep as a woman over what you could not defend as a man."
Granada has a beautiful hill-top Moorish quarter (called Albayzin) which has lovely streets and from here I got my first, and stunning view, of the Alhambra which is spread out on the adjacent hill against the backdrop of the magnificient Sierra Nevada mountains.
Alhambra’s name is derived from Arabic qala’at al hamra meaning red castle on account of its colour. It served as a palace for the Emirs of the Spanish Moorish dynasty before being used by the Christian Kings after the ‘reconquest’. Because of this, it has an interesting amalgam of Muslim and Christian motifs. The complex has many parts – the Alcazba (citadel), Palacio de Carlos V, and the Palacio Nazaries all of which have an interesting mix of Christian and Arabic influences. The complex also has a beautiful set of gardens, the Generalife which was built during the rule of Mohammed III in the early 14th century.
Sadly, during the Napoleonic invasion of Spain, Alhambra was used as barracks by soldiers. Alhambra was ‘re-introduced’ to the world after the publication of Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra which was written after he spent a few months living in the complex in 1820. After marvelling at the beauty of the Alhambra, it was back to Sevilla after a 3 hour journey, during most of which I slept.
The next day-trip was to the port-town of Cadiz. Many historians consider this to be the oldest city in Europe (dating back to 800 BC). It was from here also that Columbus sailed to the Americas. Initially only Sevilla had a monopoly over the trade with the Americas. However, in the 16th c Sevilla’s monopoly was broken and Cadiz was also given the privilege of trading with the Americas.
The town is on the coast of the Atlantic and there are some beautiful beaches here. The to-see sight in Cadiz is the baroque Cathedral. Its construction started in 1716 and, like any good project, ended more than a hundred years later in 1838. The day I was there, a ceremony for young children was on and the entire town was out in their Sunday best. I love climbing church towers because they’re usually the highest point in old towns and afford the best aerial views. Normally there are steep stairs – fortunately the tower for Cadiz Cathedral Torre de Poniente had no steps but instead had a nice easy-to-navigate ramp. Of course, the views from the top – of the town and of the coast – were spectacular.
For lunch – after a couple of well-deserved beers at the local bar – I went to one of my favourite Spanish tapas chains called ‘100 Montaditos’. They offer cheap and tasty tapas on wee pieces of breads. They also have a good selection of vegetarian tapas and – more importantly – the beer is cheap. No I’ve not been employed by them for marketing purposes!
My last day trip was to the beautiful town called Ronda. This was with an old friend of mine Niall (whom I’d met on a trip to Mongolia, and later he’d visited India). It was good to catch up with him. We hired a car (he drove!) and made a day of it with a visit to Ronda. En route we stopped at a Moorish watchtower from where one got 360° views of the beautiful countryside.
Ronda is one of the ‘white towns’ so called because all houses in these towns are painted white. They make a beautiful contrast against the green of the countryside. The town was made famous by Hemingway’s ‘For whom the bells toll’ when the Republicans kill Nationalists by throwing them off the cliff. The cliff is the USP of this town which seems precariously perched on its edge. There are a couple of bridges on this cliff – The Old Bridge and The New Bridge. The latter was completed in 1793 and legend has it that the architect fell to his death while engraving the date of completion of the bridge. Poor guy!
Ronda has Spain’s oldest bull-ring (from 1785) and there is a nice museum and armory here that details the history of the ‘sport’. The Romero family (from Ronda) is responsible for development of modern Spanish bullfighting as they introduced many new facets to the corrida – such as the use of the cape and the use of the sword to ‘kill’ the bull.
On our way back from Ronda, we stopped at the town of Los Palacios where we went to an old fashioned farmer's bar. I tried the local wine – available on tap – and fell in love with it immediately. So much so that I picked up a bottle without remembering that my suitcase was already chock-a-block.
That ended my trip to Andalucia and Sevilla (though technically Ronda is in Malaga).
Next stop Madrid.
