in a line at seven in the morning.

Back to Alhambra tales and tails!!!

lining up an hour before the counter opens is not good enough to get you the honour of getting entry in to the alhambra. The line is only one twentieth of the total line!!!!!!!!!!!

Granada of the Pomegranate!

Granada derives its name from pomegranate which is on the city's coat of arms! The pomegranate is on every fence in the city of Granada.

a bath a day keeps the doctor away!!!!

A bath at (bano) hamam in Granada.
I guess my co-blogger should use some of his translating skills and put some real infor here!!

espana=muchos calor!!! espain=many-colour!!!

Heat and Colour!
Two adjectives that describe spain. Especially in August, when the rain is spain is definately not in the plains, you need to arm yourself with a hand fan and drape yourself in the lovliest colours and paint the town red ....

From Cordoba to Granada

The Umayyad emirate of Cordoba and the following caliphate of Cordoba ruled Al Andalus from the city of Cordoba till 1031. The mesquita dates to this period. After that it broke up into a number of indepdendent taifas. The Almoravides dynasty rose to prominence and ruled until 1147. At the same time, Zawi ibn Ziri, a member of the tunisian royal family made granada his caital. Under the zirid dynasty in the beggining of the eleventh century, Granada became an independent sultanate. By the end of the eleventh century, the city had spread across the Darro to reach what is now the site of the Alhambra. In 1228, Ibn al-Ahmar established the longest lasting Muslim dynasty on the Iberian peninsula - the Nasrids. However, this was the high peak of the reconquesta and to avoid defeat, the Nasrids aligned themselves with Ferdinand II of Castile. Twenty kings ruled Granada from the founding of the dynasty in 1232 by Muhammed I ibn Nasr until 1492, when Boabdil surrendered to the invading armies of Ferdinand and Isabel, of Castile . It was in this period, most of the palaces and garrisons in the Alhambra were built. Some parts like the palace of Charles V were added later after the defeat of Nasrid dynasty.

A lot of history, some pictures to follow.

A little history!

The year 711 marked the beginning of the new era in the iberian peninsula which would shape its future into a mold different from the rest of europe. This was the year, the Moors, under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, defeated the visigoths and conquered most parts of the peninsula. The mountain regions of Asturia remained undeafeated and would later form the core of the Spanish Reconquesta.

The first half a century of Moorish rule was divided and full of internal squables. However, in 756, Abd-er-Rahman established himself in Cordoba as the emir of Al-Andalus, the arabic name of those parts. During his reign, he transformed Al-Andalus to the cultural light of Europe. In 785, Abd-er-Rahman I started the construction of the Mezquita in Cordoba and is one of the most magnificient buildings today.

Under the moors, the iberian peninsula flourished for centuries. The art and architecture of that period is famous. Many libraries were established which held millions of books and manuscripts, unparalleled in the rest of europe at that time. Muslims and non-Muslims often came from abroad to study in the famous libraries and universities of al-Andalus. The moors expanded and improved Roman irrigation systems to help develop a strong agricultural sector. They introduced many new crops including the orange, lemon, peach, apricot, fig and pomegranate as well as saffron, sugar cane, cotton, silk and rice which remain some of Spain's main products today. A big progress was made in the field of medicine as well. Abu al-Qasim, regarded as the father of modern surgery wrote the kitab al-Tasrif ("Book of Concessions"), a 30-volume medical encyclopedia.

There is a lot lot more ... saving for the next time!!!!

The First View

Looking up from the Albaicin district of Granada, the Alhambra looms overhead.
The river Darro, which foams through a deep ravine on the north, divides the plateau from Albaicín. A pleasant long walk up the hill to the Alhambra can take between 15 minutes to an hour depending on the route one takes. In winter, snow covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada can be seen in the background.