Nearly eight centuries of history of al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula have shaped an inheritance that is a part of the hallmarks of Spanish, Mediterranean and European cultures

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Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe

The Routes of The legado andalusí are Cultural Route of the Council of Europe

Travelling along the Routes of El legado andalusí

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UNESCO World Heritage on The Routes of El legado andalusí

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Paradores along the Routes of El legado andalusí

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Exhibitions

They bring the splendour of the culture of al-Andalus closer to the public

The Routes

Cultural Route of the Council of Europe since 1997

Its goal is to disseminate and highlight the heritage of al-Andalus in order to recover that mark of progress and tolerance, creativity and ingenuity that contributed so much to the revival of Europe and to the enrichment of its current identity.

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Cultural Itineraries

Cross-border itineraries based on the historical, social and cultural relations of al-Andalus with the Muslim world.

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Publishing Work

El legado andalusí has published more than 70 books, of both scientific and educational nature, centred on historical, cultural and tourist subjects.

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Umar ibn Hafsun and Bobastro.

A character for a historic city

There are few people in history who have generated such a massive bibliography as Ibn Hafsun from the 19^th century, due precisely to his eventful, hazardous life.

A knight without sword

Boabdil’s (three) swords

The story of the commonly called “King Boabdil’s swords”, is among the many that, after its legendary semblance, conceals the most relevant details of historical events. These are swords that passed into the hands of diverse noble families from Castile after the conquest of Granada by the Christian troops in 1492.

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Ibn Arabi of Murcia: al-Shaykh al-Akbar

The Greatest Master

“My heart can take every form:
A meadow for gazelles,
A cloister for monks,
For the idols, sacred ground,
The Kaaba for the circling pilgrims,
The tables of the Torah,
The scrolls of the Quran.
My creed is Love.
Wherever its caravans turn along the way,
Its roads are the path of my faith”.

Ibn Arabi

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Samarkand, in the heart of the Silk Route

In the portico of Aq Saray palace, a statement addresses the traveller: ‘If you have doubt about our power then look upon our buildings’.

The exuberant architecture with which Tamerlane, the so-called “universal ruler”, honoured the cities of the barren Asian steppe, found in Samarkand its most magnificent aesthetic expression.

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Ibn al Shaykh of Malaga dazzled by the Lighthouse of Alexandria

PART II

The Lighthouse of Alexandría, the Seventh Wonder of the Ancient World, was widely described by Arab authors. Among them, Ibn al-Shaykh of Malaga produced one of the most accurate descriptions of all.

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Ibn al Shaykh of Malaga dazzled by the Lighthouse of Alexandria

PART I

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Al-Ghazal from Byzantium to the Viking country

PART II

By the mid-9th century travelling across the Mediterranean could be very dangerous, especially for an old man like al-Ghazal, who had earned a position in the Cordoban court good enough to be put out on such a hazardous endeavour.

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Al-Ghazal from Byzantium to the Viking country

PART I

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Leo Africanus: caravan was his homeland and his life the most unexpected crossing

“Leo Africanus may have been for al-Andalus a kind of a posthumous son. Born at the moment his mother civilization was fading, he learned from exile not only its suffering but also its amazing changes. At times ambassador, at times slave, adventurer and…

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Ibn Battuta, the traveler of Islam

Ibn Battuta of Tangiers (1304-1368) and his world-famous rihla, or travelogue, linked to the notion of traveling in search of knowledge, provides us with interesting descriptions of his journey …

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The story of the Arma, the Andalusi diaspora in sub-Saharan Africa

After the revolt of the Alpujarras (1568), second-generation Christians established themselves in today’s Morocco and other places along the African Mediterranean coast and sub-Saharan Africa.

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The alhóndigas of Granada

All that remains of the intense commercial activity that took place in Granada in Nasrid times is the Yadida alhóndiga. Known as the Corral del Carbón (Coal Yard), it is the only one that is preserved in Spain. Today it hosts, among other cultural institutions, the headquarters of the Fundación El legado andalusí (The Legacy of al-Andalus Foundation).

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The mystery of the Moor King’s Water Mine of Ronda

As in every border town, defence posed one of the greatest challenges both in times of peace and during armed conflicts. The important outspot of Ronda, along the Route of Almoravids and Almohads, encapsulates the secret of its awesome water mine, whose story is hardly known.

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