Andalucia tour

March 1-11, 2003

Early Booking Price, before November 1, 2002: $2725

Regular Price, from November 1, 2002: $3025

Single Supplement $380, Deposit $600

Tour Director: Professor Peter Gravgaard

Introduction

In the Middle Ages the Muslim world stretched from Southern Portugal in the West to Samarkand in the East, mostly encompassing the Southern shores of the Mediterranean. Its culture both attracted and repelled the nations of Europe. Thus William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, who became the first TROUBADOUR and originator of lyrical poetry in France, was undoubtedly influenced by Arab poets. He probably encountered Arab culture on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and especially later in Antioch while recuperating at the Norman court of Tancred after being wounded in battle against the Turks at Heraclea in Asia Minor. Here he would have been exposed to both Saracen poetry and courtly love and acquired the political connections which enabled his son, Raymond, later to become Prince of Antioch.

The task of bringing Arab culture to France (and hence Europe) was continued by William IX's granddaughter, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. She and her first husband, King Louis VII of France, also visited Antioch during the Second Crusade. Here, as well as most probably having an affair with her uncle, Raymond, Eleanor gained knowledge of the Gnostic philosophy and Arab culture and literature. These influenced her deeply and left traces in the courtly poetry and chivalric romances which she inspired and promoted (Bernart de Ventadour and Chretien de Troyes).

Our SPRING IN ANDALUCIA TOUR will visit the part of Spain which most clearly testifies to this Arab presence. By visiting Seville, Cadiz, Ronda, Cordoba and Granada you will experience a culture in which the great Arab past can still be seen and felt.

Itinerary

Day 1 (March 1, 2003)

You fly from the USA to Madrid, Spain.

Day 2 (March 2, 2003)

In Madrid you take the AVE express train from the Madrid Atocha Station to Seville (fifteen departures per day). You will be met in Seville by your tour leader, who will take you to the hotel where we spend the next two nights. The afternoon is at your disposal. In the evening we will have our WELCOME DINNER and the tour leader will explain the program.

Day 3 (March 3, 2003)

Today we will explore Seville.

The Cathedral is awesome: the greatest gothic cathedral in the world. The builders are supposed to have declared, "We will build a church so great that future ages will call us mad just for attempting it". They managed to finish the building of it in about a hundred years. The belltower is a former minaret, the Giralda, whose weathervane's motif is, amusingly, that unmoving cardinal virtue, Faith. The most striking feature of the cathedral's interior is the Tomb of Columbus, carried by four giant pall-bearers, the heralds of Castile, Leon, Navarre and Aragon.

The Alcazar was built in the 1360s by the Moorish builders of King Pedro the Cruel of Castile. His daughter, Princess Costanza, married John of Gaunt, who therefore laid claim to the kingdom of Castile. Pedro the Cruel murdered his own brother, Don Fadrique, among others, and was finally, himself, murdered by another brother, Don Enrique de Trastamare, who then became king. (Queen Isabel the Catholic was a descendant of Enrique de Trastamare.) Don't forget to look at the lovely Alcazar Gardens.

Other sights to see in Seville today and tomorrow are: the Archive of the Indies, (originally built as the stock exchange by Juan de Herrera, who also built El Escorial outside Madrid); the Barrio Santa Cruz, (originally the Jewish Quarter until 1492); the University, (originally the royal tobacco factory); the Torre del Oro; the Hospital de la Santa Caridad; the Casa de Pilatos (16^th century palace of the dukes of Medinacoeli); Parque Maria Luisa; Plaza de America; Plaza de España; Museo Provincial de Belas Artes de Sevilla.

Day 4 (March 4, 2003)

We continue the exploration of Seville. In the evening I will be happy to accompany you if you want to see a flamenco. (Not included in the tour price).

Day 5 (March 5, 2003)

Today we drive from Seville to Cadiz where we will spend the night. On the way we stop at Jerez de la Frontera to have lunch and visit one of the sherry bodegas.

Day 6 (March 6, 2003)

Cadiz may be the oldest city in Western Europe, perhaps founded as early as 1100 BC by the Phoenicians as a base for their trade with Africa, England, Sweden or maybe even America, some historians have conjectured. Cadiz itself considers Hercules to be its founder, and his two pillars are nearby, of course: Gibraltar and Tangiers. (In this respect, look out for the official arms of the Kingdom of Spain: the Two Pillars of Hercules - you will see them often enough on this tour). This morning we will walk through the narrow streets of Cadiz and see the Plaza España, the Church of San Felipe Neri, the Church of La Santa Cueva, and just simply enjoy the street life. After lunch we drive to Ronda, where we will spend the night.

Day 7 (March 7, 2003)

This morning we will walk through the beautiful little town of Ronda. Sights to see include the Palacio de Mondragon, the Baños Arabes (Arab Baths) and the Casa del Rey Moro. From Ronda we drive to Granada, via Marbella and Malaga. We will stay in Granada for two nights.

Day 8 (March 8, 2003)

Today we visit the Alhambra, the Moorish royal palace with the Alcazaba fortress. Here you will see the high points of Moorish Spain: the Court of the Myrtles, the Hall of the Boat and the Hall of the Ambassadors. The very names evoke the poetry and promise of beauty to be experienced: the Court of the Lions, the Hall of the Abencerraje, the Hall of the Two Sisters, the Patio of the Lindaraja. The Alhambra was the royal palace from which was governed Granada, the little kingdom, the remainder of El-Andalous, which had existed from 711 to 1492 when the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabel and King Fernando, conquered it and subjected it to Christian Spain. To conjure up the atmosphere of this Arab Spain we recommend that you read Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra. After our visit to the Alhambra we will go for a walk through the beautiful gardens of the Generalife.

After lunch we will visit the Cathedral with its Royal Chapel and the tombs of the Catholic Monarchs and their daughter, Juana the Mad and her husband, Philip the Fair. The Sacristy contains some admirable paintings by 15^th century Flemish painters.

Day 9 (March 9, 2003)

Today we drive from Granada to Cordoba, where we will spend two nights.

Day 10 (March 10, 2003)

During the early Middle Ages Cordoba was undoubtedly the most important city in Europe; though the claim that it had one million inhabitants at that time is probably grossly exaggerated. Abd-er-Rahman I made Cordoba the western capital of the Islamic world. First it was an Emirate, then Abd-er-Rahman promoted it to a Caliphate. It was clearly a cultural center of the highest importance and home to such important men as Averroes, the Arab philosopher who promoted the study of Aristotle's works and Maimonides, the Jewish scholar who wrote the Guide for the Perplexed. Today we will visit the Great Mosque, the Mezquita, the Alcazar and the Juderia, the medieval Jewish quarter. In the evening we will have our FAREWELL DINNER.

Day 11 (March 11, 2003)

Today is the last day of our Andalucia tour. We will take you to Cordoba Railway Station from which the AVE express train will return you to Madrid Atocha Station. Your return flight will take you from Madrid Airport (Barajas) back to the USA.

BON VOYAGE!

Note: If you would like to come to Madrid a couple of days before the tour begins, or stay on for a while afterwards we will be happy to help with hotel bookings…

Bibliography

Averroes (Ibn Roshd), see Ernest Renan
Paul Blackburn, Proensa, An Anthology of Troubadour Poetry, U Cal Press, 1978
Titus Burkhardt, Moorish Culture in Spain
Cadogan Guides, Spain (Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls) Chester, CT, 1992
Henry Corbin, Alone with the Alone, Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn'Arabi, Princeton, 1998
Ibn'Arabi, The Tree of Life
Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra
Henry Kamen, Spain 1469-1714, London, 1991
Jacques Le Goff, La Civilization de l'Occident medieval, Paris, 1964
E. Levi-Provencal, Histoire de l'Espagne muselman, Paris, 1960
Peggy K. Liss, Isabel the Queen, New York, 1992
Raymond Lull, Ars Magna (The Great Art)
Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed
A.R.Nykl, Hispano-Arabic Poetry, Baltimore, 1946
Ernest Renan, Averroes et l'Averroisme, Paris, 1925
Sefer Yezirah (The Book of Creation), Irving Friedman, ed., New York, 1977
Sohrawardi (Shihabaddin, 1155-1191), Contes initiatiques, ed. H Corbin
Frances Yates,"The Art of Ramon Lull" and "Lull and Bruno" in Collected Essays, London, 1982