Do you want to find out some little-known interesting facts about Andalucia’s most famous towns, cities and pastimes? Which films were shot in Seville, why the Mezquita was built with its pillared arches, which Beatle loved Almeria, who brought golf to Andalucia?
Our Fascinating Facts series are five snippet-sized unusual pieces of information about well-known places you’re likely to visit while you’re in Andalucia.
Do you want to find out some little-known interesting facts about Andalucia’s most famous towns, cities and pastimes? Which films were shot in Seville, why the Mezquita was built with its pillared arches, which Beatle loved Almeria, who brought golf to Andalucia?
No fewer than three Roman emperors were born just outside Seville. The Romans first arrived in Spain in 206BC, during a war against the Carthaginians, and stayed for 700 years battling the fierce Iberian tribes.
When you visit Seville, you will undoubtedly go out for tapas. These small, tasty dishes, now found all over the world, originated in Sevilla.
We bring you ten interesting titbits about the Andalucian capital, whether you´re visiting Seville for the first time, you´re already a seasoned expert, or you live here. Find out more about film, food, sport, history, religion and politics - plenty of key aspects of this historic city.
No Andalucian city is complete without its mighty Moorish fortress. Malaga´s Alcazaba is one of the mightiest and most extensive, and dates from the eighth century. It overlooks the recently restored Roman Amphitheatre just below, illustrating the city´s rich history. You can continue following the city´s fortunes over the centuries inside the Alcazabar, in the Archeological Museum, which houses Phoenician, Roman and Moorish artefacts.
Malaga´s astonishing reinvention of itself, from stopping-off point for beachgoers to artistic mecca of southern Spain, has been triggered by the Picasso museum and followed up by the Centro de Arte Contemporaneo (CAC) de Malaga, Malaga´s Tate Modern. This has temporary exhibitions by cutting-edge international artists, such as Louise Bourgeois and Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as showing both up-and-coming and established Spanish artists (Chema Cobo), and a permanent collection.
Although its history dates back centuries, since the 1950s Malaga has been best-known as the gateway to the Costa de Sol. Many of the 16 million holidaymakers who arrive at the airport annually head straight for the beaches - all the better for those who come to enjoy this atmospheric city.
You can visit at least 100 sherry bodegas (wineries) in Jerez itself, Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa Maria the three points of the so-called Sherry Triangle", to see how the different stages of the production process - pressing, aging, mixing. Many sherry bodegas have strong British connections (see Fact III).
Well-known as the place where sherry that classic English tipple, is produced, Jerez is also equally famous both for its horses and its flamenco. Situated in the province of Cadiz, and larger than its capital city, it is only 20km from the coast, but has an aristocratic, anglophile atmosphere all of its own. A major event in Jerez's annual calendar is the colourful, lively Vendimia (Grape Harvest) Festival in September.
The Castillo Santa Catalina, one of Spain´s most magnificently-located paradors, is located on a spectacular site dating from the 10th century. The strategically crucial Moorish fortress was built by Ibn Al-Ahmar (Ibn Nasr, founder of the Nasrids of Granada).
Best known for its region´s superb olive oil and Renaissance architecture, Jaen has many little- known treasures waiting to be discovered by visitors to one of Andalucia´s least touristy cities. Close to the magnificent Cazorla National Park and surrounded by unspoilt countryside, it is set against a spectacular backdrop of mountains.
The whole of Huelva, both city and immediately surrounding area, is imbued with the spirit of Cristobal Colon and his voyages to America. You can visit the monastery in La Rabida where he stayed while waiting for his request for funding to be approved by Queen Isabella.
Huelva has always been known more for the beaches in the surrounding area, than for the city itself. Known by the Phoenicians as Onuba, it has a long history, closely linked to the sea and nearby mineral riches, and apart from the less attractive industrial port area, has some interesting sights, although many monuments were destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
In 1981 a group of Spanish Muslims, mostly converts, launched plans for a brand new mosque in Granada, funded by various Muslim countries who have never lost their love for the city.
Granada boasts one of the most magnificently positioned palaces in the world, as wondrous to behold from across the gorge, with the white peaks of the Sierra Nevada glinting behind in the sun, as it is to examine close at hand, with its elaborate symbolic designs. The city has a fascinating history, which can still be seen today in Granada´s carmens and Arab baths.
As well as the typical collections of archaeology, fine art and bullfighting paraphernalia, Cordoba also has some more unusual museums: leather art, patios and torture. The city is famous for its leatherwork, and its most historic technique, guadameci, is an intricate embossed design with gold, silver and coloured paint, unique to Cordoba, which dates back to the 10th century. /p>
Cordoba is best known as being home to one of Andalucia's three great monuments: the Mezquita, the other two being Seville's Alcazar and Granada's Alhambra. Like the other two, the city embodies the region's rich cultural and religious history: the Mezquita - which dates from Cordoba's zenith, as capital of Al-Andalus and the largest and most important city in Western Europe, with 500,000 inhabitants.
The oldest continuously-inhabited city in the Iberian Peninsula, and possibly all of southwestern Europe - it was founded in 1104 BC - Cadiz´s fascinating history and varied fortunes can be glimpsed through the development of its name over the centuries. The Phoenicians called the city "Gadir", which means "walled stronghold"; the Berbers subsequently changed this word to "agadir", meaning "wall". In Greek, Cadiz was called was "Gadeira" - according to Greek legend, Hercules founded the city after his tenth labour.
Cadiz´s name and reputation have forever been linked with its maritime adventures. It was from this ancient port city, dramatically situated on a spit of land surrounded on three sides by the sea, that two of Columbus´ four voyages set out for the New World. During the Franco era it was known as a hotbed of dissent, with its legendary carnival continuing despite the dictator´s ban on such decadent events.
Almeria was, until recently, the last well-known of Andalucia's provincial capitals. These days, however, thanks to the growing popularity of the province's beaches, especially nearby Cabo de Gata and its natural park, more visitors are getting to know Andalucia's fastest-growing major city. It remains, for now at least, largely uncommercialised.
