La Alhambra y Generalife, Granada

I took this photo of the Alhambra, with the Sierra Nevada mountains in the background, from the terrace of the apartment that I was staying in one hill over.  It is a magnificent fortress, looking all the more magnificent in the evening sky.

Possibly encouraged to invade Spain in the first place by Hispano-Romans unhappy with the Vigigoths, the Moors came around 700 and stayed for about 700 years, leaving a definite imprint on the country, especially in Andalucia.  They came from north Africa, Muslims,a mixture of Arab and Berbers.  The name "Moors" comes from the name Mauretania, which at the time referred to the part of north Africa roughly now represented by Algeria and Morocco.

This was a huge change for Spain - a new language, religion, culture and a new name, for the part of the country under Moorish control was known as Al Andalus.  The Moors had a vicious way of dealing with enemies and made sure that people knew about it--they took a page right out of Genghis Khan's play book. As a result there was little resistance at first and they took over Toledo, the capital, within a year. Within a few years, they controlled most of Spain.

The Moors further developed agriculture, and in particular, irrigation, by channeling water to where it was needed- many of these systems are still in use today.  They also introduced citrus fruits, figs, pomegranates, sugar cane, cotton, silk and rice.  However, they were not universally loved--they were pushed out of Toledo in 1085, and gradually they only resided in Southern Spain.  A final push over a period of about 10 years defeated the Moors, who eventually relinquished Granada without a fight in 1492, not that long after the completion of the magnificent Alhambra.  The lack fighting left much of Moorish Granada intact, with much remaining today, which allows for great touring today.