Arrived at Casablanca Airport early afternoon on Wednesday then took a taxi to our hotel in the central district. Freshened up and walked around the Old Medina to stretch our legs and start adjusting to local time. Early dinner and an early night.
Next morning we were picked up by the family of our Moroccan friends from Hobart and shown around the city.
We visited the massive Hassan II Mosque, completed in 1993, and took the hour-long tour for visitors. It is a building designed to make a statement, though the detail is exquisite and it was well worth taking the time to have a closer look.
After that we were driven to the beachfront suburb of Ain Diab then on to Quartier Habous and the New Medina. The ‘new market’ was built by the French in the 1930s and is an odd mix of traditional Moroccan souq and French marketplace. We cruised the stalls looking at djellabas (robes), babouches (slippers), pashminas (shawls), and olives, olives, olives.
Spent the afternoon at the family’s house being heartily fed and plied with sweet mint tea. It was a lovely experience.
Central Casablanca has plenty of French colonial architecture built during the 1910s to 1930s in a style called ‘Mauresque’ . We spent Friday morning seeking out some of the best examples. As we wandered the streets it was fun to check out the fashions and indulge in local pastimes like feeding pigeons.
The family picked us up again late morning and we visited Casablanca’s fishing port on the way to their house for lunch. As it was Friday, lunch was cous cous. The men stepped out later in the afternoon to go to mosque. We were shown how to make tea, and Julie was given a djellaba, kaftan, and shoes. The women dressed her up much to everyone’s amusement. We headed back to our hotel late afternoon, very grateful for the generous hospitality we’d been shown. It got our Moroccan experience off to a great start.
Took an evening walk around the Old Medina and readied ourselves to move on in the morning.
Meknes is the least well-known of Morocco’s four imperial cities, but we found it a fine place to visit. It was established in the 11th C by the Almoravid dynasty as a military settlement. The city sits on a fertile plain below the Middle Atlas mountains, on the Oued Bouferkrane watercourse (which is usually dry).
Meknes became the capital of Morocco under the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismaïl (1672–1727), head of the Alaouite dynasty which rules to this day. Moulay Ismaïl created a massive imperial palace complex with extensive fortifications and monumental gates in Spanish-Moorish style. The Historic City of Meknes is a World Heritage site.
The fertile plains around Meknes attracted settlers long before the Almoravids arrived. About 30 kms north of the city lie impressive Roman ruins at the Archaeological Site of Volubilis, also a World Heritage site.
Nearby is the mausoleum of Moulay Idriss, great-grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and founder of Morocco’s first dynasty (ruled from 788-791).
We caught the train from Casablanca to Meknes which went smoothly. Got some help from the staff at our Casablanca hotel to buy train tickets.
Our riad was in the Medina district, just off the main square called Place el-Hedim. After checking in and freshening up we visited the Dar Jamai palace built in 1882, and now a museum.
From there we wandered past the massive gateway of Bab el-Mansour, via the wool market and into the imperial city to visit the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. This beautiful building has a series of simple courtyards which lead to a lavishly decorated tomb hall. All in all it’s a lovely example of Moorish architecture.
A couple of kms to the southeast lies Heri es-Souani, the massive granary and stable complex built by Moulay Ismail. Foregoing a hot and sweaty late afternoon walk we opted to ride there in a caleche (horse-drawn carriage).
It’s said that Heri es-Souani provided stabling and food for 12,000 horses, and walking beneath its enormous arches is humbling. Just to the north lies a large, stone-lined lake called Agdal Basin, fed by an extensive network of irrigation channels. A statue of a traditional water seller reminds us that the ruling class didn’t give anything away.
We caught another caleche back to Place el-Hedim, admiring modern Moroccan commerce along the way.
Place el-Hedim
Dar Jamai Museum, courtyard
detail
Bab el-Mansour
wool market
Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail
small courtyard
open courtyard
burial chamber, detail
mihrab
tombs
entrance
caleche ride
Heri es-Souani
interior
Agdal Basin
water seller statue
Julie
mobile stall
market, Place el-Hedim
The next day we wanted to day trip to the Roman ruins of Volubilis and the pilgrimmage site of Moulay Idriss. Navigating the bus system did not look easy so we opted for a ‘grand taxi’. We chose an older guy (Mustafa) who offered what we wanted at a price that was within expectations set by the research we’d done. He drove us to Volubilis and waited for two hours while we explored the site, then took us back to Meknes via Moulay Idriss. It worked out fine.
Volubilis was established as a Berber city then Carthaginian outpost around the 3rd century BC, and is widely accepted as being capital of the ancient kingdom of Mauretania.
It prospered under Roman rule from around 40 AD to 280 AD and the most impressive ruins and mosaics visible today date from this period.
Moulay Idriss found sanctuary here when fleeing from Abbasid persecution in Mecca around 789, before establishing his capital at Fez. The city was abandoned by the 11th C with the population relocating to nearby Moulay Idriss Zerhoun. The ruins remained largely intact until they were extensively damaged by the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755.
What remains is however very much worth a visit. We began our tour in the northeast corner of the site, at the Tingis (Tangier) Gate, then followed the main road of Decumanus Maximus.
The House of Venus located south of the road has some fine mosaics. Several houses to the north of the road also have well-preserved mosaic floors.
Just past the House of Columns you reach the Triumphal Arch built in honour of the Emperor Caracalla in 217 AD.
Nearby is the Basilica, Capitoline Temple, and Forum. Storks nest on top of the reconstructed columns.
Our visit finished at the Baths of Gallienus and the House of Orpheus, which has a large, circular mosaic showing the god playing his harp to an audience of trees, animals and birds.
Tingis Gate
House of Venus
Abduction of Hylas
Diana bathing
Labours of Hercules
House of Columns
Triumphal Arch of Caracalla
Basilica aisle
Basilica apse
Forum, with storks
Baths of Gallienus
House of Orpheus
Nearby Moulay Idris Zerhoun is a pretty town with whitewashed buildings draped over two hills at the base of Mount Zerhoun. Its centrepiece is the Mausoleum Of Moulay Idriss (Idriss I), founder of the Idrissid dynasty. It was Morocco’s first Muslim dynasty and lasted from 788 to 974, though Idriss I died early on (in 791) and it was his son Idriss II who consolidated the dynasty ruling from 791 to 828.
Much of the current mausoleum complex was built by Moulay Ismail in the early 18th C. As a pilgrimmage site, non-Muslims were forbidden entry to Moulay Idriss Zerhoun for many years. This was relaxed in the early-20th C, though non-Muslims could not stay in the town until 2005 and can still not enter the inner mausoleum complex. The attraction is finding vantage points around the town to view it from afar, and local guides tout assertively for the business of taking you to the best spots.
Our grand taxi dropped us back in Meknes and we took some time to relax in our beautiful riad.
In the late afternoon we ventured out to visit the Medressa Bou Inania, a religous school for studying Islam. It was built in 1358 and is beautifully decorated in the style of the Marinid (or Merenid) dynasty (1244 to 1465).
From the rooftop there are good views of the Grand Mosque.
We wandered through busy market squares and quiet lanes in the early evening to finish off a fabulous day.
Both of us succumbed to ‘Berber belly’ overnight and the next day was very low key. Being a nurse, Julie’s medical travel kit had always been large and I’d been known to make fun of this fact. Never again! Her ‘gastro bombs’ saved my life in Meknes…
Cordoba was founded by the Romans in 2 BC and became an important provincial base in Hispania under the Emperor Augustus. It was occupied by the Byzantines then by the Visigoths before it was captured by Umayyad Moors in 711. It was under the Moors that the city rose to its greatest prominence.
In 716 it became capital of the Emirate of Cordoba, subordinate to the Caliphate of Damascus. Internal strife within the Arab Muslim Empire led the Abbasids to defeat the Umayyads in 750. The Umayyads held on to al-Andalus and in 756 Abd al-Rahman I established an independent Emirate of Cordoba. In 929 the Umayyad Emir Abd al-Rahman III declared himself Caliph of Cordoba, and the caliphate he established lasted until 1031 before it crumbled into a number of independent principalities (taifas). The city was recaptured by the Catholic monarch Ferdinand III in 1236.
We had three nights / four days in Cordoba, including a day trip to Seville. It was a very full and rich experience.
The historic centre of Cordoba is a World Heritage site. It comprises the Great Mosque (Mezquita) and surrounding areas, the Synagogue and Alcazar, as well as the Roman Bridge and the Torre Calahorra across the River Guadaquivir.
About 8 kms west is Medina Azahara which Abd al-Rahman III built as a new capital for his Caliphate of Cordoba.
The Mezquita (Great Mosque) of Cordoba is justifiably famous. Standing in the prayer hall surrounded by a forest of Moorish columns topped with beautiful red and white striped arches is a remarkable experience. Its construction was started by Abd al-Rahman I in 784 and his descendants reworked the building over the next two centuries reaching its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and courtyard. The mihrab supposedly includes 1.6 tonne of gold mosaic cubes gifted by the Byzantne Empire. In its day the building would have been filled with light, but 19 external doors have been bricked up. Even more unfortunately, the centre of the Mezquita was ripped out in the 16th C to allow construction of a Catholic Cathedral which was further decorated during the 17th and 18th C. The fussiness of the Cathedral’s Capilla Mayor offends the elegence of the original structure. To the victors go the rights to spoil…
It’s pleasant to wander the Mezquita’s courtyard and around its walls. Although most the external doors are bricked up some of the surviving decoration is very beautiful.
The area around the Mezquita is also World Heritage listed. We visited the Sinagoga (synagogue) and wandered along the lovely Calle de Cairuan which follows the old Islamic walls to the gate of Puerta de Almodovar.
Mezquita
arches
Prayer Hall
Mirhab
Cathedral
courtyard, with boys
doorway, bricked up
door to Mezquita
external door
Calle de Cairuan
Sinagoga
Puerto de Almodovar
The Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (Castle of the Christian Monarchs) is a palace and fortress commissioned by King Alfonso XI of Castile in 1328, built on the site of earlier Roman, Visigoth, and Moorish buildings. The Alcazar was one of the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition from 1482 to 1834. It is well worth exploring the towers, courtyards, mosaic room, and baths, and the gardens are delightful.
The Alcazar is close to the river and we wandered past the Episcopal Palace then across the Roman bridge to the district of Campo de la Verdad-Miraflores. Our visit coincided with the Feria de Mayo (May Fair), a ten day party held in the El Arenal Fairground on the other side of Puenta del Arenal. It was a lot of fun to wander amongst the Cordobans who clearly take their partying seriously. The dresses were colourful, the horses and riders well groomed, and the music absolutely pumping. Of all the fairground rides we liked Mega Kanguro best of all.
Flamenco originated in Andalucia in the 18th C and remains an important part of local culture. You see van drivers practice their clapping when waiting for traffic lights to change and hear cante flamenco (singing) blare from passing cars. We were interested to see and hear it live. Walking home one evening we were handed a flyer for a small club with a perfromance starting at 22:30. Very Spanish. We went along and had a fabulous time. The club was run by a Gitano (Romani) family and the peformance cycled through instrumental music (acoustic guitar, box drum, clapping, and stomping), male singers, a traditional female dancer, and a younger female dancer with a very different style. The impression it gave is that flamenco is not stuck in time but is evolving through younger generations bringing new skills and perspectives built on very formal traditions. The patriach of the family (José Antonio Plantón Moreno) goes by the stage name of El Calli. We bought an album called Orgullo de Estirpe which translates as something like Proud Lineage. Check it out on Spotify, along with an earlier album called Sonidos con Alma (Sounds of the Soul).
Alcazar, Tpwer of Homage
looking down from tower
Tower of the Lions
gardens
statuary
mosaic room
Royal Baths
busking, Spanish style
Episcopal Palace
water wheel
Feria de Mayo
Mega Kanguro
Abd al-Rahman III was clearly an ambitious man, declaring the Caliphate of Cordoba as rival to the Abissid (Middle East) and Fatimid (Egypt) Caliphates. In 936 he began building a magnificent new capital at Medina Azahara. It was completed by 945 but sacked and looted from around 1010 as the Caliphate of Cordoba fell apart.
The walled perimeter ran 1.5 kms east to west and 0.75 kms north to south (112 hectares), though only a fraction of the site had been excavated and was open to the public when we visited. Yet it’s one of those sites where there’s just enough left to fire the imagination and we had a fabulous time.
You enter through the north gate by the Higher Housing, coming to the Ya’far House (of the hayib or Prime Minister) and High Basilical Building. From there you enter the impressive Drawing Room of Abd al-Rahman III. Interestingly, the decorative tracery at Medina Azahara is made from carved limestone rather than the usual material of plaster. The Drawing Room leads onto the Gardens and to the east lie ruins of the Mosque. The tour finishes in the Arms Square which has a lovely Portico along its western edge.
The site was undergoing further excavation and reconstruction when we visited in 2008. Clearly a lot of work has been done since then as Medina Azahara was inscribed onto the World Heritage list in 2018. We’ll certainly return if we’re in this region again.
Cordoba was founded by the Romans in 2 BC and became an important provincial base in Hispania under the Emperor Augustus. It was occupied by the Byzantines then by the Visigoths before it was captured by Umayyad Moors in 711. It was under the Moors that the city rose to its greatest prominence.
In 716 it became capital of the Emirate of Cordoba, subordinate to the Caliphate of Damascus. Internal strife within the Arab Muslim Empire led the Abbasids to defeat the Umayyads in 750. The Umayyads held on to al-Andalus and in 756 Abd al-Rahman I established an independent Emirate of Cordoba. In 929 the Umayyad Emir Abd al-Rahman III declared himself Caliph of Cordoba, and the caliphate he established lasted until 1031 before it crumbled into a number of independent principalities (taifas). The city was recaptured by the Catholic monarch Ferdinand III in 1236.
We had three nights / four days in Cordoba, including a day trip to Seville. It was a very full and rich experience.
The historic centre of Cordoba is a World Heritage site. It comprises the Great Mosque (Mezquita) and surrounding areas, the Synagogue and Alcazar, as well as the Roman Bridge and the Torre Calahorra across the River Guadaquivir.
About 8 kms west is Medina Azahara which Abd al-Rahman III built as a new capital for his Caliphate of Cordoba.
The Mezquita (Great Mosque) of Cordoba is justifiably famous. Standing in the prayer hall surrounded by a forest of Moorish columns topped with beautiful red and white striped arches is a remarkable experience. Its construction was started by Abd al-Rahman I in 784 and his descendants reworked the building over the next two centuries reaching its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and courtyard. The mihrab supposedly includes 1.6 tonne of gold mosaic cubes gifted by the Byzantne Empire. In its day the building would have been filled with light, but 19 external doors have been bricked up. Even more unfortunately, the centre of the Mezquita was ripped out in the 16th C to allow construction of a Catholic Cathedral which was further decorated during the 17th and 18th C. The fussiness of the Cathedral’s Capilla Mayor offends the elegence of the original structure. To the victors go the rights to spoil…
It’s pleasant to wander the Mezquita’s courtyard and around its walls. Although most the external doors are bricked up some of the surviving decoration is very beautiful.
The area around the Mezquita is also World Heritage listed. We visited the Sinagoga (synagogue) and wandered along the lovely Calle de Cairuan which follows the old Islamic walls to the gate of Puerta de Almodovar.
Mezquita
arches
Prayer Hall
Mirhab
Cathedral
courtyard, with boys
doorway, bricked up
door to Mezquita
external door
Calle de Cairuan
Sinagoga
Puerto de Almodovar
The Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (Castle of the Christian Monarchs) is a palace and fortress commissioned by King Alfonso XI of Castile in 1328, built on the site of earlier Roman, Visigoth, and Moorish buildings. The Alcazar was one of the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition from 1482 to 1834. It is well worth exploring the towers, courtyards, mosaic room, and baths, and the gardens are delightful.
The Alcazar is close to the river and we wandered past the Episcopal Palace then across the Roman bridge to the district of Campo de la Verdad-Miraflores. Our visit coincided with the Feria de Mayo (May Fair), a ten day party held in the El Arenal Fairground on the other side of Puenta del Arenal. It was a lot of fun to wander amongst the Cordobans who clearly take their partying seriously. The dresses were colourful, the horses and riders well groomed, and the music absolutely pumping. Of all the fairground rides we liked Mega Kanguro best of all.
Flamenco originated in Andalucia in the 18th C and remains an important part of local culture. You see van drivers practice their clapping when waiting for traffic lights to change and hear cante flamenco (singing) blare from passing cars. We were interested to see and hear it live. Walking home one evening we were handed a flyer for a small club with a perfromance starting at 22:30. Very Spanish. We went along and had a fabulous time. The club was run by a Gitano (Romani) family and the peformance cycled through instrumental music (acoustic guitar, box drum, clapping, and stomping), male singers, a traditional female dancer, and a younger female dancer with a very different style. The impression it gave is that flamenco is not stuck in time but is evolving through younger generations bringing new skills and perspectives built on very formal traditions. The patriach of the family (José Antonio Plantón Moreno) goes by the stage name of El Calli. We bought an album called Orgullo de Estirpe which translates as something like Proud Lineage. Check it out on Spotify, along with an earlier album called Sonidos con Alma (Sounds of the Soul).
Alcazar, Tpwer of Homage
looking down from tower
Tower of the Lions
gardens
statuary
mosaic room
Royal Baths
busking, Spanish style
Episcopal Palace
water wheel
Feria de Mayo
Mega Kanguro
Abd al-Rahman III was clearly an ambitious man, declaring the Caliphate of Cordoba as rival to the Abissid (Middle East) and Fatimid (Egypt) Caliphates. In 936 he began building a magnificent new capital at Medina Azahara. It was completed by 945 but sacked and looted from around 1010 as the Caliphate of Cordoba fell apart.
The walled perimeter ran 1.5 kms east to west and 0.75 kms north to south (112 hectares), though only a fraction of the site had been excavated and was open to the public when we visited. Yet it’s one of those sites where there’s just enough left to fire the imagination and we had a fabulous time.
You enter through the north gate by the Higher Housing, coming to the Ya’far House (of the hayib or Prime Minister) and High Basilical Building. From there you enter the impressive Drawing Room of Abd al-Rahman III. Interestingly, the decorative tracery at Medina Azahara is made from carved limestone rather than the usual material of plaster. The Drawing Room leads onto the Gardens and to the east lie ruins of the Mosque. The tour finishes in the Arms Square which has a lovely Portico along its western edge.
The site was undergoing further excavation and reconstruction when we visited in 2008. Clearly a lot of work has been done since then as Medina Azahara was inscribed onto the World Heritage list in 2018. We’ll certainly return if we’re in this region again.
We spent four nights in Granada on our tour of Andalucia. It’s a charming city located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains and the confluence of four rivers. We were attracted here to visit the famous Alhambra and the day we spent exploring this remarkable site was a highlight. There is however much more to the city and its surrounds.
We took a bus 75 kms to the southeast and spent a lovely day in the whitewashed villages of Las Alpujarras, the region that was awarded to the Moors when they surrendered Granada 1492.
In the rest of our time we explored the city’s grand Catholic monuments, interspersed with traces of Moorish heritage, and wandered the old Muslin quarter of Albyzin which is draped over a hill facing the Alhambra across the Darro River valley. All in all, Granada was a treat.
Granada rose to prominence in the 13th C as the base of the Nasrids, the last and longest running Muslim dynasty on the Iberian Peninsula. By 1228 the Almohad Caliphate was in decline in Al-Andalus and Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr (Muhammad I of Granada) emerged as an ambitious Muslim leader. Coming from Arjona he took control of several southern cities including Granada (in 1236) and established the Emirate of Granada in 1238.
With Cordoba (1236) then Seville (1248) falling to the Christians, Granada became the last Muslim stronghold. Muhammad I aligned himself with Ferdinand III of Castille (who took Cordoba and Seville), and this unholy alliance helped to ensure the Nasrid dynasty survived for over 250 years before Granada was surrendered to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinandand Isabellain 1492 to complete the Reconquista.
It was under the seventh and eighth Nasrid Sultans, Yusuf I (1333-54) and Muhammad V (1354-91), that Granada reached its zenith. They left an amazing legacy of architecture and art most conspicuously expressed in the World Heritage Alhambra building complex and Generalife Gardens.
The Alhambra receives a huge number of visitors, understandably so, but don’t let this put you off. It’s a very well managed site. We pre-booked a ticket for a specified starting time and walked straight in on the day. As each tour group frogmarched through we just retreated to a corner for several minutes then reoccupied the space when they were gone. For much of the time we were there (several hours) it felt like we had the place to ourselves and a few other like minded souls.
Our tour of the Alhambra entered through the Puerta de Vino and into Palacio de Carlos V. A wing of the Nasrid building complex was destroyed to make way for this Renaissance palace commissioned by Charles V in 1527, though it was never finished and stood roofless till 1957. It’s an interesting building with a two-tiered, circular coutyard inside. Although it is misplaced amongst the Moorish architecture, it’s far less odious than the Cathedral plonked into the middle of the Great Mosque in Cordoba. The Alhambra Museum is on the ground floor.
Palacio Nazaries (the Nasrid Palace) is the main attraction and for us it’s one of the most remarkable buildings we’ve seen anywhere in the world.
First you pass through the Mexuar, an antechamber for receiving visitors, then enter the Patio del Cuarto Dorado (Golden Room) where the emirs would give audiences. Next is the Palacio de Comares built as a residence for Yusuf I. It surrounds the Patio de los Arrayanes (Patio of the Myrtles) which has a beautiful pool. The combination of decorative plaster, wood, and tile decoration on the palace walls surrounding the patio is simply astonishing. The patio opens onto the Salon de Comares with an extraordinary marquetry ceiling representing the seven heavens of Islam.
Puerta de Vino
Palacio de Carlos V
coutryard
Mexuar
Patio del Cuarto Dorada
Patio de los Arrayanes
alcove
fountain
tiles and wood
plaster and wood
Salon de Comares
audioguide and camera
It’s thrilling to walk through the Palacio Nazaries and wonder what you’ll see next. Patio de los Lions is certainly a highlight with its beautifully ornamented pavillions.
We progressed through Sala de los Abencerrajes and Sala de Dos Hermanas, admiring the delicate ornamentation on ceilings and arches. Patio del Lindaraja led us out of the palace and into El Partal gardens with a lovely old portico facing west.
The Alcazaba was the Alhambra’s citadel and there are fine views of the ramparts and surrounds from Torre de la Vela.
The Generalife (Architect’s Garden) is a great last stop on a tour of the Alhambra. The beautiful Patio de la Acequia and Jardin de la Sultana have a soothing effect on tired legs and overloaded minds. What a day.
Patio de los Lions
pavillion
arches
tiles
Sala de los Abencerrajes
Sala de Dos Hermanas
Mirador del Lindaraja
El Partal
Alcazaba
Generalife
outlook
Jardin de la Sultana
One day we took a day trip to Las Alpujarras, a collection of valleys on the southern flank of the Sierra Nevada about 75 kms southeast of Granada. Berbers settled here in the 10th C and the area became reknowned for irrigated agriculture and silkworm farms, supplying weaving workshops in port city of Almeria. When the Emir Boabdil finally surrendered Granada to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isobel in 1492, he was awarded Las Alpujarras as part of the settlement. As Catholic promises of religous tolerance were subsequently broken, Las Alpujarras became a hotbed of Muslim insurrection until all of the Moors were finally deported from the region in the late 16th C and replaced with Christian settlers.
We caught a bus from Granada, up the Poqueira River valley to the village of Capileira. It takes a couple of hours to get there. Capileira is the highest of three villages in the valley. The stone streets, whitewashed buildings, and distinctively shaped chimneys are reminiscent of Berber villages in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, standing in testament to its Moorish history.
We spent a lovely day wandering the cobbled streets and along some of the footpaths that radiate into the higher mountains.
Capileira
Poqueira River valley
streetscape
old communnal laundry
door
chimneys
up river
walking
built in stone
Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny, Tommy lived here
higher up
terraces
Granada was the last domino to fall in the Catholic reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Ferdinand and Isobel had planned to be buried in Toledo, but after capturing Granada in 1492 they commissioned the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel). Their marble funerary monuments lie side by side in the chancel though their bodies are in simple lead coffins in the crypt below. The Capilla Real was not completed until 1521. Isobel died in 1504, Ferdinand in 1516, and they were interred in the Alhambra until the chapel was completed.
The adjoining Cathedral was commenced in 1521 and not fully completed until the 18th C. The Cathedral and Capilla Real have separate entrances.
It was pleasant to wander the streets around the Cathedral complex. The Alcaiceria is now an area of tourist shops on the site of the Moorish silk exchange. Nearby Corral del Carbon began life in the 14th C as an inn.
A little to the north of the city centre is the 16th C Monasterio de San Jeronimo. It has a lovely cloister, excellent stone carvings, and a profusion of brightly painted sculptures. It is the resting place of Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, know as El Gran Capitan (the Great Captain) for his role as Ferdinand and Isobel’s military commander.
We visited the Archaeological Museum then stopped for lunch before an afternoon wander around Albyzin.
The old Muslim quarter of Albyzin is also part of Granada’s World Heritage. It’s a delightful area to explore with cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings, and great views across the Darro valley to the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada beyond. We checked out the Collegiata del Salvador which is a 16th C church built on the site of Albyzin’s main mosque. A patio with Moorish arches survives as a reminder of this history.
We left Granada well satisfied with our visit to the city and the fascinating region of Andalucia.
Barcelona was our last stop in Spain. We rented an apartment for five nights in a residential area near Placa de Catalunya, with the aim of slowing down and taking time to enjoy being in this legendary city. It worked a treat.
One day we visited the Picasso Museum, wandered down to the waterfront, then came home via the Cathedral district.
Across a couple of days we checked out the extraordinary architecture of Antoni Gaudi and his contemporaries. Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, and other lesser known but amazing buildings.
We explored Montjuic and visited the Mies van de Rohe’s gorgeous Barcelona Pavillion and the Joan Miro Museum.
In the rest of our time we wandered the backstreets, visited smaller churches and museums, and took in a concert at the shimmering Palace of Catalan Music. We left Barcelona vowing to come back.
We arrived late on the first night, having taken the slow train from Granada to check out some Spanish countryside along the way.
Our first full day was spent wandering down Via Laietana to the waterfront then back again, visiting some great sites in the La Ribera and Barri Gotic districts. Via Laietana runs parallel to the famous La Rambla, which is very crowded and touristy, and we found it a good option for easing ourselves in to this bustling city.
The Palace of Catalan Music is a lovely modernist building by the architect (and politician) Lluís Domènech i Montaner. It’s possible to see the interior on a guided tour. We didn’t take a tour but attended a concert one evening by Diego el Cigala, a well known Romani Flamenco gypsy singer. Either way it’s worth a look inside to see the beautiful stained glass ceiling. The Palace of Catalan Music and Montaner’s Hospital de Sant Pau are collectively recognised as a World Heritage site.
The Spanish artist Pablo Picasso was prolific during his long life, and there are several museums dedicated to his work throughout Europe. Born in Malaga, Picasso lived in Barcelona between the ages of 14 and 24. The Barcelona Picasso Museum is therefore focused on his earlier works, with paintings up to the ‘Blue Period’. Although best known as a painter, Picasso was also a sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer. We found the museum’s collection of linocuts to be superb, showcasing his mastery of line. To quote Julian Barnes from his novel “Flaubert’s Parrot”:
Mystification is simple; clarity is the hardest thing of all. Not writing a tune is easier than writing one. Not rhyming is easier that rhyming. I don’t mean art should be as clear as the instructions of a packet of seeds; I’m saying that you trust the mystifier more if you know he’s deliberately choosing not to be lucid. You trust Picasso all the way because he could draw like Ingres.
After the museum we visited Esglesia Santa Maria de Mar then took in the waterfront plazas and monuments around Port Vell (the old port).
From here we looped back through the Barri Gotic, past the Roman Walls near Placa de Ramon Berenguer el Gran and on to the Catedral district. We spent the late afternoon ambling along alleys and lanes around the Cathedral where the standard of busking was exceptionally high.
A lovely first day in Barcelona.
Palace of Catalan Music #1
Palace of Catalan Music #2
laneway near Picasso Museum
plaza near waterfront
Port Vell
Columbus monument
via Laietana
Roman wall
Pacac de Ramon Berengeur el Gran
Catedral
behind the Catedral
washing
Barcelona is rightly famous for its Modernista architecture, a distinctly Catalan ‘art nouveau’ style from the late 19th and early 20th C. Most of the iconic Modernista buildings are located in the districts of L’Eixample and Gracia, northwest of the city centre.
On our way we passed the Arco de Triunfo, a Neo-Mudéjar archway built as the main entrance to the 1888 Universal Exhibition hosted by the city.
On Passeig de Gràcia in L’Eixample there is a city block known as the “Block of Discord” which is noted for having buildings by all of the most important Modernista architects. Their styles were very different and the buildings clash with each other and the neighboring buildings.
Our first stop was Casa Lleo Morera, a stately residence by Lluís Domènech i Montaner (architect of the Palace of Catalan Music – see above).
For most people, Antoni Gaudí is the name that’s synonymous with Modernista architecture. Seven of his buildings in and around Barcelona constitute the Works of Antoni Gaudi World Heritage site.
Despite having seen many photos of Gaudi’s buildings, the experience of approaching then entering his amazing Casa Batllo for the first time was still a shock. It’s impossibly ornate. Much of the decoration has an air of fantasy yet it also seemed like a functional building, and the standard of craftsmanship was exceptional throughout. All in all it’s a breathtaking combination.
Casa Amatller by Josep Puig i Cadafalch is the other main building on the “Block of Discord”.
Heading northwest along Passeig de Gràcia we visited another Gaudi masterpiece, the Casa Mila apartment and office block also known as La Pedrera (the quarry). Part of the interior is open to the public, but the rooftop is its most striking feature with extraordinary chimneys that evoke human forms.
Just to the east is Casa de les Punxes by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, an apartment block that looks like a castle.
And so to the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia (Temple of the Holy Family), the project to which Gaudi dedicated himself from 1886 until his death in 1926. It remains unfinished to this day with a latest estimated completion date of 2032. In short it is unlike any other church building on the planet. The spires, facades, interior design, and decorative features combine gothic and art nouveau influences into a unique vision that seems unhinged from the realities of 21st C life. That Gaudi could have conceived such a building is amazing enough, but to see it still being built in accordance with his vision some 120 years later is simply astonishing. We visited in 2008 and it was very much a building site at that time. No doubt substantial progress has been made since then, and it was consecrated as a church in 2010.
Arco de Triunfo
Casa Lleo Morera
Casa Batllo, exterior
interior 1
interior 2
interior 3
roof 1
roof 2
Julie on the roof
Casa Mila
chimneys 1
chimneys 2
surroundings
interior
Casa de les Punxes
Sagrada Familia, exterior
nave
outlook
tower tops
facade
Next day we visited more Gaudi sites in the morning. First stop was Casa Vincenc, an early house designed with turrets and Mudejar references.
From there we went to Parc Guell. Eusebi Güell was a Spanish entrepreneur who developed a close relationship with Gaudi and became one of his most significant patrons. Guell bought this land in 1900 and commissioned Gaudi to create a small garden city with houses for the wealthy. The project was abandoned in 1914 but by then Gaudi had made his mark with highly decorated paths, steps, benches, and a covered market area supported by a forest of stone columns.
Having had our fill of Modernista architecture, we headed southwest to the Montjuic (Jewish mountain) district which has a number of interesting attractions. Barcelona hosted two World Exhibitions, in 1888 and 1929. Montjuic was the site of the 1929 event and its major attractions date from this period (and from the 1992 Olympic Games). Starting from Placa d’Espanya you rise towards Montjuic on stairs and / or escalators across a series of terraces dissected by a massive fountain called La Font Majica.
Just west of the fountain lies the Mies van der Rohe Pavillion. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German – American architect who with Lilly Reich won the commission to design Germany’s pavillion at the 1929 World Exhibition. It’s a stunning piece of minimalism that was taken down after the exhibition but rebuilt in the 1980s in homage to its enduring influence.
Riding the escalators we reached the Palau Nacional, built for the 1929 World Exhibition and now housing the National Museum of Catalonian Art.
From there we contoured east to Fundacio Joan Miro, a gallery dedicated to the art of Barcelona native Joan Miró. It’s a lovely building with a beautiful outlook and a comprehensive collection of Miro’s paintings, sculpture, and ceramics. For me he’s an artist who stimulates a mix of reactions. I love some pieces, find some childish, and sometimes feel like I’m having my leg pulled. His titles ranged from one word (“Painting”) to twenty word manifestos. My favourite title was “Hair Pursued by 2 Planets”. If you ever get the chance, visit Fundacio Joan Miro and make up your own mind.
Casa Vincenc
Parc Guell
photo op
detail
walkway
Mies van der Rohe Pavillion
statue
wall
furniture
escalator
Palau Nacional
Fundacio Joan Miro
On our last day we took in some sites in central Barcelona then went down to the port and picked up some bikes for a pedal along the waterfront.
Started the day with a wander through the green expanse of Parc de la Ciutadella, another remnant of the 1888 World Exhibition.
We then visited the excellent Museu d’Historia de la Ciutat (City History Museum) which occupies a series of lovely old buildings around Placa del Rei. It’s built on top of Roman ruins that can be inspected from a subterranean raised walkway.
Barcelona’s Catedral is a magnificent gothic structure. It has a beautifully sculpted wooden choir from the 14th C and and an atmospheric crypt housing the tomb of Santa Eulalia, one of the city’s patron saints. The wooden coffin of Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, is mounted high on the western wall. The Cathedral’s roof can be accessed by lift and provides great views and perspectives of the modern city.
A little to the southwest is the lovely square of Placa Reial, which is agreat pace to have a drink and watch the world go by.
We finished the day by picking up city bikes (Bicing) and cycling along the waterfront.
The mix of Byzantine, Arab, and Norman influences on Sicily from 535 to 1194 created an incredible artistic and architectural heritage that is unique.
As part of Emperor Justinian’s plan to reunite the eastern and western empires, his general Belisarius took the island of Sicily in 535. Although Sicily had been part of the Roman Empire for 700 years, Belesarius was welcomed by a population that largely identified as Greek in language and custom.
Under attack for many years because of its strategic location between North Africa and Southern Europe, Sicily was finally invaded by Arab Muslims in 827. The island prospered under their rule, and Palermo became the capital.
The Norman conquistador Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I gradually captured the island between 1061 and 1072, at which time Roger became Count of Sicily. The Normans were ferocious conquerors but adopted a concilitory appproach as rulers, embracing and building on Sicily’s Arab and Greek influences. Roger I died in 1101 and his widow Adelaide del Vasto ruled until 1130 when their son Roger II became King. He was an enlightened leader who ruled with distinction until 1154. Things gradually fell apart under his successors, William I, William II, and Tancred until Norman rule was replaced by Swabian (South German) rule in 1194. Which is another story…
Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Monreale and Cefalu are World Heritage listed in recognition of this unique history.
Palermo’s Palazzo Dei Normanni dates to the 9th C but what you see today bears the hallmarks of Sicily’s Norman rulers. The Capella Palatina (chapel) and royal apartments were designed by Roger II in 1130 and the combination of dazzling mosaics, marble inlay, and carved wooden ceilings in the Arab style (muqarnas) reflects a distinctive vision. We spent several hours trying to take it all in.
Another day we caught the bus to nearby Monreale, 8 kms southwest of Palermo. It is here that William II built a magnificant Catherdral designed to outdo his grandfather Roger II. Several different mosaic cycles cover the interior.
The Sanctuary including the main apse, north and south chapels has an enormous Christ Pantocrater (Almighty) surrounded by various, life-size saints.
The lower walls, columns, arches and ceilings of the interior are also beautifully decorated.
The Cathedral has a gorgeous Cloister with slender, inlaid columns, sculpted capitals every one of which is different, and elegant arches. The fusion of Byzantine, Arab and Norman sensibilities is fully on show in this space. We enjoyed taking our time to do a few laps of the Cloister before going back in for a second round of the interior.
The north and south walls of the central Nave are covered in the cycle of the Old Testament, with 42 stories represented.
The Transept includes the cycle of the life of Christ.
Taken as a whole Monreale borders on being overwhelming, and we left with our heads full and our senses heightened. It was amazing.
Modern Istanbul is ancient Constantinople, the epicentre of Byzantium. Its strategic position on the Bosphorous, connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, ensured that it was an important place from at least 657 BC.
It became seriously important in 324 AD when the Emperor Constantine the Great declared it the ‘New Rome’ and laid out a vast new city to serve as capital of his empire. It was inaugurated in 330 before Constantine died in 337 (aged 65 years).
The city continued to grow under his successors Theodosius I and Theodosius II , who built the eponymous Theodosian Walls in 413.
In 527 the Emperor Justinian I took the throne and launched an ambitious program of building (including the Aya Sofya) and reconquest of the western empire (from Ravenna). His expansionist ambitions were not realised and exhausted the Byzantine Empire’s treasury, though Constantinople remained a major force for several hundred years.
It was sacked in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade and finally captured by the Ottomans in 1453 .
We saw many vestiges of the Byzantine era while staying in Istanbul, but there were four monuments that gave us the strongest sense of Constantinople. The Aya Sofya , Theodosian Walls, Chora Church, and Church of the Pammakaristos.
The historic areas of Instanbul are World Heritage listed and the Aya Sofya (Hagia Sofia / Church of the Divine Wisdom) is the standout.
Built by Justinian in 537 as a statement in his campaign to reunite the eastern and western empires, it stood supreme as the greatest church in christiandom for 900 years. Mehmet the Conquerer had it converted to a mosque, then in 1935 Attaturk proclaimed it a museum accessible to all.
It is a remarkable edifice that can only be fully appreciated when you are inside it. We stayed in Istanbul at the start and end of this trip and visited the Aya Sofya twice. Like Athens and the Acropolis, it seemed inconceivable to us that we would be in Istanbul and not go to see the Aya Sofya.
On another day we caught a ferry from central Istanbul up the Goldern Horn to Ayvansaray in the western districts. This was a great experience as it took us outside the walls of the ancient city and enabled us to see several important monuments as we walked back into the centre of Instanbul.
First up we explored the Theodosian Walls. These massive fortifications were built by Theodosios II then added to by Mehmet the Conqueror.
From here we could walk to the Chora Church which is an amazing ‘museum’ of byzantine art and architecture. It was built in the late 11th C and most of the interior decoration dates from 1312. The mosaics and frescoes are simply stunning.
We then walked on to the Pammakaristos Church. Built in the late 11th C or early 12th C it was adapted into the Fethiye Mosque (the “mosque of the conquest”) in 1591. It’s now a museum with the largest amount of Byzantine mosaics in Istanbul after the Hagia Sophia and Chora Church.
One of the reasons we chose to stay in this part of Rome is that it’s a great place to see the trajectory of Christianity from minor cult in pagan Rome to state religon of an empire. Over a couple of days we walked between a series of buildings that illuminate this period of history.
Travel Tip – Don’t, as we did, try to visit the churches on the last Saturday of Spring because they’ll have weddings going on!
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme was founded in 329 by Saint Helena, Empress of the Roman Empire and mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great who legalised Christianity in 313. Helena had a church constructed to house relics she brought back from the Holy Land. It is said that these included three chunks of Christ’s cross, a nail, two thorns from his crown, and the finger that a doubtful Saint Thomas thrust into Christ’s wound. As well as a bunch of soil from Jerusalem. Quite a haul, and one that sparked something of a craze in relic hunting.
When we first visited Rome, one of the things that struck us was how layered it is. Rome seems to have been continuously built on top of itself over time and the modern city stands well above many of the ancient ruins. The Basilica of San Clemente is an excellent place to see this, with a 12th C church built on top of a 4th C church that was razed by the Normans in 1084, built on top of an insula (apartment building) destroyed in the Great Fire of 64 AD. The oldest buildings are almost 20 metres below the newest ones. Saint Clement was the fourth Pope, exiled by the Emperor Trajan for his preaching and eventually drowned in the Black Sea with an anchor tied around him. No photos are allowed inside San Clemente.
We walked along an ancient Roman road called the Clivio Scauro to the San Gregorio Magno, a Baroque church built on the site where Pope Gregory I lived (r. 590 – 604). The building was closed when we visited with a sign saying there was no entry until the Fire Brigade said it was safe. That didn’t sound promising. Next stop was Santa Maria in Domnica to which the locals add ‘alla Navicella’ or ‘little ship’ because of the Roman ship statue that stands outside. The site used to house Roman firefighters (vigiles) then a chuch was built in the 7th C and remodelled in the 9th C with a lovely apse mosaic.
Santi Quattro Coronati is an ancient basilica dating back to the 4th C devoted to four anonymous martyrs. It’s set in a lovely part of Rome which is relatively quiet and green. Like San Clemente and others it was razed by the Normans then rebuilt as a fortified monastery albeit to smaller dimensions. The much larger original apse is still visible from the outside. It has a lovely cloister dating to 1220.
The Archbasilica of San Giovanni in Laterano is the cathedral church of Rome. It is said to be the oldest public church in the city and the oldest basilica of the Western world. You wouldn’t necessarily know it however. There are few traces left of its origins from 313, and subsequent rebuilding and restoration has been fairly unsubtle. The fifteen 7-metre high statues out front telegraph the intentions.
The basilica of Santa Pudenziana stands on a site where a church was first built in the 4th C. It’s also been continuously restored and remodelled though the apse mosaic from the early 5th C remains.
The basilica Santa Prassede dates from the 9th C and has excellent mosaics, considered to be the finest expression of Byzantine art in Rome.
Our last stop was the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. It has an impressive Baroque facade that shrouds a basilica church from the 5th C with some impressive mosaics.
Taken as a whole this walking tour gave us a great sense of how Rome continued to be built, razed, rebuilt, restored, over and over again according to the dominant belief system of the day. It’s quite a history.
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