Introducing Andalusia

In November 2025, we enjoyed a three-week road trip to explore the region of Andalusia in southern Spain, with a detour on the way in Tolédo. We embarked with visions of the Alhambra and the Córdoba mosque-cathedral, sherry wine, white villages, and the Rock of Gibraltar. We found all those things, a gazillion olives, and more.

We visited Córdoba, Sevilla, Jerez (near Cadíz), Gibraltar, Ronda, and Granada, all of which you can find on these maps. So, no surprise to you, in the next few posts, we’ll share some of what we saw and experienced.

But first, there is some history and terminology that will be helpful for appreciating the character and uniqueness of this region. This background will be a little  nerdy, so if it isn’t your glass of wine, you can move on to the next post, where, as always, we promise nice photos and anecdotes. But if you find some context missing there, please come back here for support!

Andalusia today

Modern Andalusia is Spain’s largest autonomous region. It’s known for its agriculture, especially olives, tourism, and services. Flamenco and festival culture are important here.

As we were driving to Córdoba from Tolédo (near Madrid) and through the region, we couldn’t help but notice olive groves covering the rolling countryside as far as we could see. A little research revealed that Spain is by far the world’s largest producer of olives and olive oil. Number two producer is Italy with about half as much production.

Muslim al-Andalus and Christian Andalucía

All of that is interesting, and tasty, but much of the region’s beauty and stimulation — at least for traveling visitors — comes from its unique Islamic, Christian, and Jewish heritage. As you may recall from history classes, while most of Europe fractured and turned inward during the years between the dissolution of the Roman Empire and the crystallization of the Renaissance, Islamic al-Andalus was a prosperous, progressive, tolerant region. Then the Christian kings and queens regained territories and expelled, or forcibly converted, all the Muslims (a process from 1492 to 1614) and all the Jews (1483 to 1492). After the beginning of the 17th century, art and architecture forgot the Islamic heritage. This history of Muslim rule giving way to Christian rule colors almost everything we saw and did.

Arrival of the Muslims 

In the 70 years after the death of the Prophet Mohammed in 632, Muslim armies succeeded in conquering all of North Africa from Egypt to what is today Morocco. This swift conquest brought them to the Iberian peninsula starting in 711. Who were these Muslim conquerors? While most of the troops came from recently Islamized North Africa, the leadership was largely Arab. Their mission was expansion of the empire of the Umayyad dynasty, whose capital was in Damascus.

Whom did the Muslim invaders find already living on the Iberian peninsula?

The Muslim invaders encountered a rich and complicated culture in Iberia. Christian Visigoths (Germanic) were the political elite. The population was mostly Latin-Christian (from the earlier transformation of the Roman Empire from pagan to Christian) with Jewish minorities. All this lay atop the heritage of Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman colonization. Whew! When the Muslims arrived, the Visigoth society was fractured, and many communities welcomed new stabilizing leaders. At first, there were some tough battles, but mostly people negotiated with the new arrivals, and in turn the Muslims permitted elites to stay in place and people to practice whatever religion they wanted. The Muslim groups controlled most of the Iberian peninsula after only seven years.

800 years of Muslim rule and presence

We found this nice graphic that shows key elements of the 800-year-long Islamic period. 

You’ll notice three general time periods. 

1. From 711 to 1031, Córdoba was the political and religious center of al-Andalus. By the way, where the name al-Andalus comes from is not known or agreed upon. It may come from a Late Latin name for the Vandals; it may refer to the Atlantic; it may come from a Gothic term for the Visigoth kingdom; or it may come from something else! Whatever its origins, it came to mean the Iberian peninsula under the Muslims.
2. In the early 11th century, power rivalries and other strains in the caliphate of Córdoba devolved into civil war, and the united caliphate fragmented into a collection of smaller kingdoms. These are known as the Taifas. This is also the beginning of the active Reconquista, in which Christian forces little by little conquered the Taifas. During this period of about 250 years, to varying degrees, parts of Andalusia were ruled by Muslims and other parts were ruled by Christians.
3. By the mid 13th century, the only region still under Muslim rule was the Emirate of Granada (which hadn’t even existed as such during the Córdoba period). Through its strategic territory along the Strait of Gibraltar and shrewd diplomacy with the Christian kingdom of Castile, Granada enjoyed 200 years of cultural prominence and political power. But, finally, in 1492, the last Emir capitulated to the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.

We highlight these three distinct periods because what we find in Córdoba, Seville, and Granada comes from entirely different centuries, as well as under different religious authorities. One might expect that all these places are just Andalusian, but, since 800 years is a very long time, there are many flavors of Anadalusia.

Some terminology to make things clearer

Arabs, Berbers, Moors, and Andalusī

Arabs from the Middle East made up much of the leadership of the invading forces, but were a minority overall. Most of their troops were Berbers. Berber is a term for the many tribes and groups from North Africa; Berbers still live in Morocco and Algeria today. Most had converted to Islam in the years before their crossing into Iberia. The word Berbercomes from the Greek word for foreigner, which also gives us the English word barbarian. Berbers today prefer their own name, Amazigh.

The term Moor comes also from outside the region, from Roman and medieval Europeans, when they referred to Arab-Berber people in Andalusia and North Africa. The term included the descriptor of dark-skinned people. Today, because the term was imposed by outsiders and is racist, it is not considered appropriate. Better to say “people of Andalusia” or, more formally and awkwardly, “Andalusī.”

Emir, Caliph, and Sultan

The Arabic word Emir refers to a political and military leader whose status remains beneath that of supreme religious leaders. An Emir makes no claim to lead all Muslims. An emir is a secular king.

On the other hand, a Caliph is a political, military, and religious leader. In 929, the Emir of Córdoba elevated himself to Caliph and, as such, was a direct competitor with caliphs in Baghdad and Damascus. He asserted universal religious authority over the entire Islamic world — although not everyone agreed with him.

Sultan is a term used in the Middle East but not in Andalusia — although some popular travel texts call the leaders of Granada sultans. The kings of Granada were emirs, not sultans.

Art and architecture

Much of the joy and pleasure of visiting famous places like the Alhambra of Granada and the mosque-cathedral of Córdoba are the beautiful decorative architectural forms and patterns and designs. Because of the Islamic prohibition of representation of human forms, intricate geometric patterns, Arabic script, and images of plants and animals cover walls and floors and domes and ceilings. Our upcoming posts will be full of beautiful images.

While there are common roots and similarities with the art and architecture of contemporaneous Syria, Iraq, and Egypt, al-Andalus developed its own distinctive styles. Decorations in al-Andalus became more intricate, lighter in appearance, and more pervasive — covering every surface. You feel wrapped up in color and pattern like icing.

You’d think that only Muslim buildings would be decorated with this style. But no. In many of the Taifa that the Christians conquered, Muslim, or formerly Muslim, artisans, artists, architects, and craftspeople remained. Many of the Christian rulers and elite found the Islamic art beautiful. They wanted more of it for new constructions, even if they inserted heraldic and Christian elements. These artists and their products are called Mudéjar, which comes from an Arabic word that means tamed or domesticated and those who were allowed to remain. The aesthetic heritage of Muslim Andalusia lived on for generations after the Christians usurped the Muslim leaders.

Columbus 

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. You’re armed and ready to enjoy the fruits of your studies. On to the posts!

November 2025