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Routes of El legado andalusi/Al-Andalus

Friday, 4 October 2019 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General, Architecture, EU blog post series, European Union, Bon voyage, Living, Working, Building, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post In the 8th century, the Iberian Peninsula saw the arrival of Arabs and Berbers who mixed with the Roman-Visigoth inhabitants, engendering what was known as Al-Andalus. This successful medieval Muslim civilisation extended, at its peak, to most of what is today Spain and Portugal, until its downfall in the late 15th century (Reconquista). Today, the importance of Al-Andalus to Western Europe is all too often underestimated, or attempts are made to downplay the effect of this medieval “multicultural” approach on the development of Europe. It was the numerous innovations that the Muslims brought with them (enriched with knowledge from ancient Egypt and ancient China) that gave Europe an unexpected boost in development, both in the sciences and of course in the culinary field. Try depriving Europeans of their morning coffee and you’ll find yourself dealing with an ill-tempered continent. While science and the fine arts were already being established in Al-Andalus, we northern Europeans were still on the move as “uneducated and inhospitable woodworms”. This slowly changed with the spread of knowledge from Al-Andalus to the north. At the same time, one cannot understand today’s Andalusia and its appeal without knowing the impact of Al-Andalus.

The routes of El legado andalusi revisit the Spanish-Muslim civilisation through its art and culture and historical and social relationships with the Arab world, the Mediterranean Basin and Latin America. Along the way, the travellers’ grasp of the historic role that Spain and Andalusia played as a cultural bridge between the East and the West is reinforced, improving their understanding of other cultures, to help build a more united world.

Beyond the impressive architectural heritage, with La Alhambra as a paradigmatic example, these routes bring back to life the literature, art, science, graphic arts, gastronomy, fiestas and traditions of Al-Andalus. Eight centuries of coexistence left a profound mark on the land and its people, so the Andalusi legacy is alive and is everywhere.

There are several routes joining all the countries with a shared cultural identity that help us understand today’s Spain. Routes like the Umayyad cultural itinerary trace the footsteps of the Arabs, from the Arabian Peninsula through the most emblematic capitals of Dar-al lslam, until they reached Al-Andalus. Once in Southern Spain, the in-depth exploration begins, following routes crisscrossing the entire region, including more than 250 towns off the beaten track. These communication lines to distant lands offer the traveller a truly international cultural experience.


The “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” was certified in 1997 and includes places in Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia.



Read more on Islamic culture, Islamic Golden Age, Council of Europe – Routes of El legado andalusi, Allah, Muhammad, Archangel Gabriel, Revelation, Quran, Islam, Muslims, History of Islam and Wikipedia Al-Andalus (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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