The Berkeley Guides:
Berkeley Guide to Europe:
Spain:
Andalucía
Andalucía, the province that borders Portugal on the west and the Atlantic to the south, is a large, diverse region, encompassing the great Moorish cities of Granada and Sevilla, the snow-peaked Sierra Nevadas, the tacky tourist meccas along the Costa del Sol, and endless olive tree groves. The area has been enormously influenced by its neighbors across the sea in North Africa. Arabs from the south took this fertile land in the Middle Ages, and by the end of the 7th century, the Moorish caliphate of Al-Andalus was flourishing. Countless palaces and mosques sprang up in Al-Andalus, and in battle after battle the region acquired more territory. By the 12th century, though, the tide had turned and Christian knights flocked to Al-Andalus to rid the area of the enemies of Christendom. By the 15th century, the Moors were completely removed, leaving only their tremendous architecture--bridges, castles, palaces, and mosques--as evidence that the civilization here was among the richest and most powerful anywhere. And, try as they might, the Christian conquerors never could surpass the beauty of the Moorish granite edifices of peaks and swoops and elaborate ornamentation.
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