TWO NIGHTS IN SEVILLA CAPITAL OF ANDALUSIA TODAY
Seville is South-West from Córdoba, about 150 km as the crow flies, down Guadalquivir river, so when driving from Córdoba, to Granada, and then Seville, we will be closing a triangle. This triangle is known in different ways, but can be thought of as “the Heart of Al-Andalus”, hence we usually name this part of our routes as “Within the Heart of Al-Andalus”.
Upon arrival in Seville, we recommend you be introduced to the city driving through it’s main streets, and riverside, before checking in at the arranged hotel.
It is time to continue to know the capital of Andalusia today, Seville. Guided visits to Seville's historical center include the Alkasr Royal Palaces & Gardens, the Cathedral of Seville, and the remains of the Almohad courtyard and minaret. After a lunch break, we will leave free time for walks and rides in Seville's historical center and riverside, Parque de Maria Luisa, Plaza de España. Dinner can be found at traditional fish restaurants in Seville, a Syrian or Italian restaurant is also a popular choice. We also recommend taking a free evening for walks and rides in Seville's historical center and riverside.
Enjoy your time in Seville!
THE TAIFA KINGDOMS AND THE ALMORAVID TAKE OVER
The death of Al-Mansur marked the end of the Umayyad dynasty and Muslim Spain succumbed to civil strife. In 1031 the great Caliphate was ended and al-Andalus split into a multitude of small kingdoms. These small kingdoms, ruled by the ta'ifs, or “provincial kings”, were not politically strong, except by alliances. Nonetheless, the arts flourished throughout Andalusia, and Muslim Spain was a centre for music, poetry, literature, and the sciences.
The Taifa kingdoms of al-Andalus were generally too weak and divided to defend themselves against repeated raids and demands for tribute from the Christian states to the north and west. Known to the Muslims as "the Galician nations", the raids had spread from their initial strongholds in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque country and the Carolinian Marca Hispanica to become the Kingdoms of Navarra, Leon, Portugal, Castile and Aragon and the County of Barcelona. Eventually, raids turned into conquests and in response, the taifa kings were forced to request help from the Almoravid, Islamic rulers of the Maghreb. The notable dynasty of the Almoravid (1062-1147) began in southern Morocco and moved into al-Andalus. The Berber Almoravid were harsh, puritanical, orthodox Muslims, critical of the grandeur of the Umayyads which they considered decadent.
Spanish Christians, with help from other European Christians, continued with their Reconquista to take Spain from the Muslims. Over time they made inroads against the Muslims who were all too often fighting with each other. In 1085, the Spanish retook Toledo, in the north of al-Andalus. For another 125 years the Christian Spanish made no great inroads into al-Andalus.
In 1086 the Almoravid ruler of Morocco Yusuf ibn Tashfin was invited by the Muslim princes in Iberia to defend them against Alfonso VI, King of Castile and Leon. In that year, Yusuf ibn Tashfin crossed the straits to Algeciras and inflicted a severe defeat on the Christians at the az-Zallaqah. Realizing the weakness of the Taifa kingdoms and the continuing threat of the Christian north who had recently taken Toledo, Yusuf ibn Tashfin removed all Muslim princes in Iberia and annexed their states by 1094, except for the one at Zaragoza. Further, he regained Valencia from the Christians.
Inevitably the Almoravids who had lived a sober life in Berbería, in al-Andalus turned to a more luxurious and pleasurable lifestyle which the Taifa kings were prone to. Taking advantage of this decadence, another African Berber Dynasty, the Almohads, conquered their positions in Morocco, while the Almoravids were dethroned in al-Andalus.
Seville was to become the most northern capital of the Almohads, with their capital in Marrakech, and they would take a prominent position thereafter. Many of the historical stereotypes that are generally perceived from a modern Spanish common understanding are from the extreme cultural and political contrast that we find during this period, and the following “Reconquista”, which is in fact a
THE ALMOHAD INTERVENTION IN AL-ANDALUS
The Almohads, a religious and political group that spread from Northern Africa into al-Andalus, united the entire coast of the Maghreb from the Atlantic Ocean to the frontier of Egypt for a brief period from 1147 to 1258. The Almoravids were succeeded in the 12th century by the Almohads after the victory of Abu Yusuf Ya'qub Al-Mansur over the Castilian Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Alarcos. In 1212, Almohad troops were defeated in Navas de Tolosa, 150 km miles North-east of Cordoba, by the combined forces of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, the kings of Aragon and Navarra, a contingent of Templars and other knights from Portugal as well as French Crusaders.
After this battle, they saw the fall of Cordoba in 1236, and their own capital, Seville, was taken by the Christian King, in 1248. By 1250 Almohad power completely collapsed.
For the third and last time, al-Andalus divided into several Taifa kingdoms. Under the advantage of these quarrels between Muslim kings, the advance of the Christians over Muslim lands, the so-called 'Reconquista', fuelled up and advanced at a steady pace.
The Taifas, newly independent but now weakened, were quickly conquered by Portugal, Castile, and Aragon. After the fall of Murcia (1243) and the Algarve (1249), only the Emirate of Granada survived as a Muslim state, paying tribute to Castile. Most of its tribute was paid in gold from present-day Mali and Burkina Faso that was carried to Iberia through the merchant routes of the Sahara.
The Maghreb and al-Andalus were plunged into bitter civil wars between various Hispano-Muslim and Berber factions. Finally, all that remained of the independent Muslim state was the Kingdom of Granada, a small section of southern Spain on the Mediterranean.