Andalucía is Spain’s largest and southernmost autonomous region with 8.5 million inhabitants. The region stretches from Almería on the Mediterranean in the east to Huelva and Cadiz on the Atlantic in the west. Andalucía is quintessential Spain. It’s about eating tapas on a sunny terrace, the matador staring into the bull’s eyes, gypsies singing sad songs, dazzling Moorish palaces and fiesta-loving people with welcoming smiles. Although many of these stereotypes are a bit of a thing of the past, they definitely have a certain truth to them, and in many ways, Andalucía has become synonymous with Spain.
These peculiarities come from a long and chequered history. Although both Phoenicians and Visigoths occupied the region, it wasn’t until the 9th century, when the Moors from North Africa arrived that things really began to develop.
The Moors built cities and transformed Al-Andalus into a center of education and learning, producing many philosophers and scientists while the rest of the continent was stuck in the Dark Ages. The city of Córdoba even surpassed Constantinople to become the largest city in Europe. large rock and called it “Virgen de la Peña”. A wooden image of this patron saint, which was carved in the year 850, resides here. In the same place, also known as “El Compas”, you will find some of the most spectacular views of.
When the Christians, led by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, finally took Al-Andalus from the Moors in 1492, they found some of the greatest architectural masterpieces in the world. Granada’s Alhambra, Cordoba’s Great Mosque, and Seville’s Royal Alcazar are all testaments to the splendor of the Moorish Empire.
Andalusia’s golden age continued under Christian rule as well. Many of the voyages of discovery to the New World began and ended in Seville, making it one of the richest cities in the Spanish Empire.
