As is easy to imagine given Granada’s physical attributes - impregnable mountains, a fertile plain and two rivers providing food and water, plus proximity to the Mediterranean coast - the city has been much fought over and many peoples have left their stamp upon it. Archaeologists still periodically unearth remains from Roman times and beyond and the city is of course renowned for its remarkably rich legacy of almost eight centuries of Moorish dominion. While the Alhambra is the jewel in the crown, the city also offers many other fascinating testimonies to the different civilsations who have marked its history. Central to the history of Granada – and indeed Spain – is religion, the theme of our guided walk around the Granada of The Three Faiths. This insightful tour will show just how intertwined are the roots of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the turbulent history of the city over the past two millennia. For over a century the frontier of Muslim Spain, or Al-Ándalus, was just to the north of Granada, defended by a series of impressive fortifications which we visit on the Moorish Castles on the Last Frontier tour. Spain's more recent social history is the focus of the excursion to The Cave Houses of Guadix, where you can see what traditional life was like inside one of these most singular dwellings, often inhabited by Spain's gypsy peoples.
Granada of The Three Faiths
Explore the history of Granada through the indelible marks left by the three “peoples of the book” – Jews, Christians and Muslims. Taking 1492 as the starting point, your guide will describe the city’s history before and after that seminal year as you visit the places and monuments that reflect both a shared heritage and a struggle for supremacy between three religions and cultures. You will learn of the important role in the city’s early medieval history played by its community of Sephardic Jews, of the fate of the Moors who converted to Christianity after 1492, and the intriguing legends surrounding the martyrdom of San Cecilio, the first bishop of Granada and its patron saint.
The Cave Houses of Guadix
A short drive from Granada lies a city founded by Julius Caesar, fringed by one of Europe’s few deserts, and where it is not unusual to live in a cave... Guadix is certainly unique, set in a lunar-like landscape where caves have long been a mainstay of the housing market. You will visit one of the region’s 3000-odd cave houses, a museum which shows how life was and is lived in these peculiar dwellings. The excursion also includes a light hike in one of Andalucía’s most beautiful Natural parks, the Sierra de Huétor, which offers great vistas in winter and spring of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada range. Moorish Castles on The Last Frontier
With this excursion to the frontier castles that defended the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada for 150 years we trace the final steps of the Reconquest and the end of over seven centuries of Muslim rule. Beginning with the castle of "La Mota" in Alcalá La Real which, once it fell to Alfonso XI in 1342, became one of the headquarters of Castile's assault on Granada, we also visit the fortresses of Montefrío - upon which Philip II commanded a church to be built as a symbol of the triumph of Christianity - and lastly Moclín, a dramatically-situated castle which presents one of the most outstanding medieval aspects of Andalucía.
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