- Time of past OR future Camino
- Some in the past; more in the future!
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Though modern pilgrims cite various reasons for undertaking the Camino de Santiago - ranging from adventure to spirituality to physical exercise - the journey is, at its heart, a Christian pilgrimage with roots deep in the Middle Ages.
The medieval era in Spain is not simply a Christian story, however. On the contrary, the period is characterised by two seemingly contradictory phenomena: convivencia, or coexistence, between people adhering to the three major monotheistic faiths after the Moorish invasion of 711, and the reconquista, which saw Christian forces slowly advance south over a period of centuries and eventually end nearly 800 years of Muslim presence on the Iberian peninsula at the dawn of the Renaissance.
The legacy of Islamic rule in Spain — and on various routes of the Camino de Santiago — is nothing short of extraordinary. These are six of the best Muslim attractions on the camino, including five UNESCO World Heritage sites.
All except Mertola. Most worth seeing for me are La Alhambra in Granada and the mesqita in Cordoba.I did a search on the forum for 'Muslim' in the title of threads and found only three threads! While the camino is obviously a Christian pilgrimage, there are some incredible Islamic sites to be found on various camino routes and the history of medieval Spain is incomprehensible without the Muslim element of the story. With that in mind, I wrote about my favourite Muslim sites on the peninsula this week - and all of them happen to be on the camino!
Best Muslim Sites on the Camino de Santiago
The introduction:
Have you been to any of these places while on or off camino? Which ones did you find the most impressive and/or are you most interested in seeing?
Yes, those are the big two for me (and I suspect most others) too. Mértola is obviously not even close to being in the same league as any of the others but I wanted to include it anyway because there is so little visible Muslim heritage in Portugal.All except Mertola. Most worth seeing for me are La Alhambra in Granada and the mesqita in Cordoba.
Definitely the big three! These three cities are actually where @Wendy Werneth and I spent our honeymoon (not being into beach / resort type places).I think that the "top three" cities to explore the heritage of Islamic Spain must be:
- Granada - Alhambra
- Seville - Reales Alcázares, Giralda, Torre Del Oro
- Córdoba - Mezquita (mosque cathedral) and Medina Azahara
Thanks for this list - Toledo, Cáceres and Mérida are the ones I've been to. Looking forward to reacquainting myself with the latter two whenever I get around to the VdlP and visiting the others sometime!Other cities with significant Islamic heritage would include
- Malaga - Alcazaba
- Almeria -Alcazaba
- Caceres - Defensive towers
- Merida - Alcazaba
- Ronda - Baths
- Jaen- Baths
- Almonaster la Real - Mezquita
- Toledo - Bab Al Mardum Mosque and city gate
Maybe you were searching the wrong term, and this thread title is a bit misleading. We are not talking about Islam or Muslims, we are talking mainly about architecture.I did a search on the forum for 'Muslim' in the title of threads and found only three threads!
Regarding Muslim architecture and presence on the peninsula as a whole, we are throwing a few words around here (Moorish, Mozárabe, Mudéjar) and some clarification might be worthwhile. Moors (moros ESP, mouros POR) are what the Muslims who invaded the peninsula in 711 were called. Mozárabes were Christians living under Moorish rule in the southern part of the peninsula. Mudéjar refers to Muslim influence on Christian lands after they had been reconquered. How does this relate back to architecture? Let's consider three buildings: the Mezquita in Córdoba ('Moorish'), the church in Wamba (often described as Visigothic-Mozárabe - again, hard to be neat here), and San Tirso in Sahagún (Mudéjar with some Romanesque). I would suggest that they are wildly different from each other. So we need to think this through a bit.
Well, that was just a way to start the postMaybe you were searching the wrong term
Yes, it's certainly complicated. Maybe there's no good single word to accurately capture the architecture I listed in the article. I wasn't trying to say it is all the same architectural style, just that all the sites listed were built under Muslim rule, so it seemed like as good a term as any as a catch-all. Someone on Facebook suggested Arabesque but this is also problematic as many of the Muslims who arrived in Iberia in 711 were not Arabs but North African Berbers.and this thread title is a bit misleading. We are not talking about Islam or Muslims, we are talking mainly about architecture. I refer you to your words in post #11 on this thread in our series on architecture. I have not really clarified these words in my own mind yet, but realize that it is more complicated that we might appreciate!
The thread title could be improved, but I hope we don't derail the conversation by filling this thread with debates from other corners of the forum and tying ourselves in knots over the names of architectural styles. If I understand correctly, the OP is interested in seeing heritage from the era of Muslim rule. It happens that architecture makes up most of what can be visited. The objective is not to find "neo" or "revival" muslim style etc. but to find the physical remnants of Islamic spain.this thread title is a bit misleading. We are not talking about Islam or Muslims, we are talking mainly about architecture.
Yes! The Ronda baths!!I think that the "top three" cities to explore the heritage of Islamic Spain must be:
In addition to the celebrated sites (Alhambra etc.), those cities are dotted with old neighborhoods, former mosques (often churches now), sections of walls built during the Islamic time, and so on.
- Granada - Alhambra
- Seville - Reales Alcázares, Giralda, Torre Del Oro
- Córdoba - Mezquita (mosque cathedral) and Medina Azahara
Other cities with significant Islamic heritage would include
(I've visited all but the last three).
- Malaga - Alcazaba
- Almeria -Alcazaba
- Caceres - Defensive towers
- Merida - Alcazaba
- Ronda - Baths
- Jaen- Baths
- Almonaster la Real - Mezquita
- Toledo - Bab Al Mardum Mosque and city gate
Especially in Andalusia, you come across defensive structures, former mosques, baths, aljibe (water cisterns), and neighborhoods with narrow, twisty, streets. The camino Mozarabe from Almeria is a route that takes you through a lot of places that are rich in Islamic heritage. In particular, the little towns on the way from Almeria to Granada are reminiscent of settlements in North Africa with narrow streets that twist their way to the top of the hill.
Perhaps this thread (or another) should include some discussion about the Jewish sites that speak to the "convivencia," or coexistence that you described in your blog post. In many places, the traces of Jewish heritage were erased, but cities like Caceres have acknowledged the former Jewish neighborhoods with plaques.
In one of these little towns, Fiñana, are the best preserved remains of an Almohad mosque - now in a church (Ermita de Nuestro Padre de Jesus):
https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=165&lang=en
Unfortunately, it's not easy to get access to the Ermita, Friends of mine spoke to the mayor on their way through the town. He warmly welcomed them as pilgrims, but it wasn't possible to get the Ermita opened up during their short visit.
Yeah. I advised some others who followed you to have a go. They got an audience with the mayor and a peek through the window, but the keys were with someone else.So I'm not the only one to have tried to get in? That said, there's a window in the door so you can get a look at the stucco work in the mihrab from outside.
The Mezquita that Raggy mentions in Almonaster la Real is a treasure worth a detour if you are walking the Camino del Sur in Huelva province. When you step inside, although the scale is as different as it could possibly be, the effect is as stunning as stepping into Cordoba's Mezquita. Almonaster la Real's Mezquita is a small humble building, and you are likely to be the only person there visiting, but once inside the door the glory of many civilizations is laid out before you in a way that immediately transmits the joy that generations of many faiths must have felt worshipping there. The columns and their capitals draw from the Romans, the Visigoths, the Muslims, and the Christians, displaying 2000 years of Spanish history. It's one of my favorite places in Spain.Other cities with significant Islamic heritage would include:
- Almonaster la Real - Mezquita
Of interest to me while on the VDLP was the old fort in Merida which was built and expanded by a number of armies.I did a search on the forum for 'Muslim' in the title of threads and found only three threads! While the camino is obviously a Christian pilgrimage, there are some incredible Islamic sites to be found on various camino routes and the history of medieval Spain is incomprehensible without the Muslim element of the story. With that in mind, I wrote about my favourite Muslim sites on the peninsula this week - and all of them happen to be on the camino!
Best Muslim Sites on the Camino de Santiago
The introduction:
Have you been to any of these places while on or off camino? Which ones did you find the most impressive and/or are you most interested in seeing?
Guadix is an Arabic-Latin fusion; "Wadi-Acci"There are hundreds of place names from the Arab in Spain.
If you want to identify them:
All that start with "Guad" (river). Guadix, Guadalquivir
Most that start with "Al" (the). Almeria, ALcalá
Most that start with "Ben" (from the family). Benidorm, Benicarló
Those that have Medina included (city). Medina del Campo.
There are other out of this rule. For example Nájera (C.F) that comes from Naxara (in the rocks)
I also highly recommend the archaeological museum, which is right in Córdoba (free entry), and the small Jewish Synagogue, now restored (donation for non-EU).
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