Andalusia and their provinces

Andalusia:

http://www.andalusia.org/

Cordoba ...

Cordoba (Córdoba in Spanish) is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. Located at 37.88° North, 4.77° West, on the Guadalquivirriver, it was founded in ancient Roman times as Corduba by Claudius Marcellus. Its population in 2008 was 325,453.

Today a moderately-sized modern city, the old town contains many impressive architectural reminders of when Cordova was the thriving capital of the Caliphate of Cordova that governed almost all of the Iberian peninsula. It has been estimated that Cordova, with up to 500,000 inhabitants in the tenth century, was the largest city in Western Europe and, perhaps, in the world.

Cordova was the capital of the Roman province ofHispania Ulterior Baetica. Great Roman philosophers like Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, orators like Seneca the Elder and poets like Lucan came from Roman Cordoba. Later, it occupied an important place in the Provincia Hispaniae of the Byzantine Empire (552-572) and during the Visigoth period.

It was captured in 716 by the Muslims, and Cordova became capital during the Umayyad Caliphate, the period of its apogee, with a population supposedly ranging between 250,000 and 500,000 inhabitants. However, most scholars feel that these numbers are historically inflated. In the 10th century, Cordova – called قرطبة (Qurţuba) in Arabic – was one of the most advanced cities in the world, as well as a great cultural, political and economic centre. The Cordova Mosque dates back to this time. In 1236 it was captured by King Ferdinand III during the Spanish Reconquista.

With one of the most extensive historical heritages in the world (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO December 17, 1984), the city also features a number of modern areas, including the districts of Zoco and the railway station district, Plan RENFE.

The regional government (the Junta de Andalucía) has for some time been studying the creation of a Cordova Metropolitan Area that would comprise, in addition to the capital itself, the towns of Villafranca, Obejo, La Carlota, Villaharta, Villaviciosa, Almodóvar del Río and Guadalcázar. The combined population of such an area would be around 351,000.

 Huelva is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community ofAndalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva.

Its area is 10,148 km². Its population is 483,792 (2005), of whom about 30% live in the capital, and its population density is 47.67/km². It contains 79 municipalities.

See a list of municipalities in Huelva.

The economy is based on agriculture and mining. The famous Rio Tinto mines have been worked since before 1000 BC, and were the major source of copper for the Roman Empire. As an indication of the scope of ancient mining, sixteen million tons of Roman slag have been identified at the Roman mines. British companies resumed large-scale mining in 1873; the district is the namesake of the Rio Tinto Group. 

The province contains Palos de la Frontera, and Moguer, where Christopher Columbus sailed out of on his first voyage in 1492, and shares the Parque Nacional de Doñana.

Granada ...

Granada is the capital of the province with the same name, situated in the eastern part of the region of Andalusia. Geographical and scenic diversity charactizes the land. There is the coastal area with its warm climate; the extensive, fertile Genil plain; and the mountainous regions with a colder climate, where we find the 3,481 meter Mulhacén, the biggest peak on the peninsula of Spain. The city of Granada is located at the foot of the sierra Nevada mountains at the confluences of the Darro and Genil rivers. Its unique history has bestowed it with an artistic grandeur embracing Moorish palaces and Christian Renaissance treasures. As the last Moorish capital on the Iberian peninsula, it also holds great symbolic value.

The city of Granada has been shaped by the hills, where the old districts in the Albaicín and the Alhambra were founded, brimming with steep, narrow streets, beautiful nooks and crannies, and marvelous landscapes. The new part of the city is situated on the plain, crisscrossed by the large arteries of Gran Vía de Colón and Calle de los Reyes Católicos, and where the busy streets around the Cathedral are found.

The Moors crossed the strait of Gibraltar in 711 and settled in what was then a small Visigoth town perched atop the Alhambra hill. Here they settled, erected walls and laid the foundation for the prosperous civilization that would follow. It was in the 9th century when Granada rose to importance after the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba. Its splendor was reached in 1238, when Mohammed ben Nasar founded the Nasrid dynasty, and the kingdom of Granada stretched from Gibraltar to Murcia. This dynasty bore twenty kings until King Boabdil was forced to surrender Granada to the Catholic monarchs, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, in 1492. During three centuries, a magnificent and rich Islamic culture flourished, leaving Granada with architectural marvels of the caliber of the Alhambra, declared a World Heritage Site, along with the Generalife and the Albaicín.

When traveling to Granada making a stop in Barcelona is great way to get more out of your Spanish experience. Barcelona is the vibrant capital of Catalunya. With attractions such as the Sagrada Familia, the 1992 Olympic Venue, Ramblas boulevard and the Camp Nou stadium (home to FC Barcelona), Barcelona is a great place to spend some time in. Hotels in Barcelona are located near the airport as well as in the city center, such as the Vincco Condal Har hotel.

Granada is of course known of the city with the Alhambra and the possibillity to do some wintersports. 

Architecture in Malaga

The oldest architectural remains in the city is the Roman theater which dates from the 1st century BCE, and that was rediscovered fortuitously in 1951.
The Moors left the dominating castle on mount Gibralfaro that is connected to the Alcazaba , the lower fortress and regal residence. Both constructions built during the Taifas period (11th century) and extended during the Nasid period (13th and 14th centuries.). The Alcazaba stands on a hill within the city of Malaga. Originally, the Alcazaba monument defended the city from the incursions of pirates. Later, in the mid-11th century, it was completely rebuilt, by the Hammudid dynasty. Occupying the eastern hillside that rises from the sea and overlooks the city, the Alcazaba was surrounded by palms and pine trees.
Like many of the military fortifications that were constructed in Islamic Spain, the Alcazaba of Malaga featured a quadrangular plan. It was protected by an outer and inner wall, both supported by rectangular towers, between which a covered walkway led up the slope to the Gibralfaro. (This was the only exchange between the two sites.) Due to its rough and awkward hillside topography, corridors throughout the site provided a means of communications for administrative and defensive operations, also affording privacy to the palatial residential quarters. The entrance of the complex featured a grand tower that led into a sophisticated double bent entrance. After passing through several gates, open yards with beautiful gardens of pine and eucalyptus trees, and the inner wall through the Puerta de Granada, one finds the eleventh and fourteenth century governor's palace. It was organized around a central rectangular courtyard with a triple-arched gateway and some of the rooms have been preserved until today. An open eleventh century mirador (belvedere), to the south of this area, affords views of the gardens and sea below. Measuring 2.5 square meters, this small structure highlighted scalloped, five-lobed arches. To the north of this area were a waterwheel and Cyclopean well, penetrating forty meters below ground, a hammam, workshops and the monumental Puerta de la Torre del Homenaje, the northernmost point of the inner walls. Directly beyond was the passage to the Gibralfaro above.
The church of Santiago (St James) is a splendid manifestation of Gothic- Mudejar, the hybrid  that evolved after the reconquista incorporating elements from both Christian and Islamic tradition. Also from the period is the Iglesia del Sagrario, which was raised on the site of the old mosque immediately after the city fell to Christian troops. It boasts a richly ornamental portal in the Isabeline-Gothic style, unique in the city.

Façade of the Cathedral
The Cathedral and the Episcopal palace were planned with renaissance ideals but fell short of funds and were finished in baroque style.
The Iglesia de la Victoria built in the late 17th century has a spectacular chapel in which the vertical volume is filled with elaborate baroque plasterwork.

Seville

The Alcázar facing the cathedral has developed from the city's old Moorish Palace; construction was begun in 1181 and continued for over 500 years, mainly in Mudejar style, but also in Renaissance. Its gardens are a blend of Moorish, Andalusian, and Christian traditions.
The Torre del Oro was built by the Almohad dynasty as watchower and defensive barrier on the river. A chain was strung through the water from the base of the tower to prevent boats from traveling into the river port.
The Town Hall, built in the 16th century in Platersque Style by Diego de Riaño. The Façade to Plaza Nueva was built in the 19th century in Neoclassical style.
The University of Seville is housed in the original site of the first tobacco factory in Europe, La Antigua fábrica de Tabacos, a vast 18th century building in  Baroque style.

Three girls travelling in Andalusia

We are three girl travelling in Andalusia...

we're making a project called "Knowing Spain"
we're going to do a book about ANDALUSIA.


Andalusia (Spanish: Andalucía) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the most populous and the second largest, in terms of land area, of the seventeen autonomous communities of the Kingdom of Spain. Its capital and largest city is Seville.

Andalusia is located south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from Morocco, and the Atlantic Ocean.

The region is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and Almería.