This trip was planned around the long anticipated Granada and Gibraltar. We did take my mom to a couple of repeats since they were on our way and worth visiting again.
La Muela or Consuegra Castle
Repeat- We stopped here shortly to just get some pictures of this 12th century castle and the windmills.
Granada
We arrived in Granada as it was getting dark as we had hoped, so that we could get this night picture of the fortress and palace complex. The complex is surrounded by ramparts and has a somewhat unusual shape. To take this picture we had to enter a very old "gypsy town" through a gated entrance and then, luckily we found the right street. Allegedly, there are several old gypsy houses built into the hillside which we: unfortunately, couldn't see in the dark.
The Alhambra was so named because of its reddish walls (in Arabic, qa'lat al-Hamra means Red Castle). The first historical documents known about the Alhambra date from the 9th century. Moorish poets described the Alhambra as "a pearl set in emeralds," due to the color of its buildings and the woods around them.
As usual the Moors weren't the first settlers of Granada as several Roman tombs were discovered in 1829 and 1857 at the base of Monte Mauror where part of the Alhambra this was constructed.
The Alhambra's Islamic palaces were built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain and its court of the Nasrid dynasty. After the Reconquista by the Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand and Isabella) in 1492, some portions were used by Christian rulers.
After being abandoned for centuries, the Alhambra was rediscovered in the 19th century by European scholars and travelers. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions.
The Alhambra is both a fortress and residence, it incorporates palaces, guard rooms, patios and gardens as well as shops, baths and the church of Santa María built in the 16th century on the site of the royal mosque.
At nearly every turn Kamree asked for a picture.
And another!
"Beautiful"
The parks and gardens follow the consistent theme of the Alhambra, "paradise on earth". In the Spring they are overgrown with wildflowers and grass, a multitude of nightingales and the sound of running water from several fountains and cascades. The Moors had planted roses, oranges and myrtles. One of the most characteristic features is the dense wood of English elms brought by the Duke of Wellington in 1812.
To add to the "paradise on earth" feel here there are several small decorative pools, streams/ waterways and fountains including several actual real water fountains. Kaiya was ecstatic!
We were impressed that the beauty of the palaces extended to the store fronts inside the ramparts of the Alhambra.
Palacio de Generalife
This villa dates from the beginning of the 14th century but has been restored several times. The Villa de los Martires (Martyrs' Villa), so named for the Christian slaves who were forced to build the Alhambra and confined here in subterranean cells. After seeing this "Mongolian Princess", Kamree wanted a picture with her because she was so beautiful. Not sure she was a princess but she was from Mongolia and she spoke perfect English. Her mother kindly asked for a picture with Kamree after we took this.
The couple in front of us was in several of our pictures as we happened to follow each other throughout all the buildings, bathrooms and gardens. I'm sure they thought we were following them, although at times they were behind us.
Palacio de Carlos V
The Palace of Charles V, built by Charles V in 1527, was inserted in the Alhambra within the Muslim Nasrid fortifications built with a special tax imposed on the Moors that remained in Granada. The Palace of Charles V now houses several museums. The unfinished palace itself was beautiful, but it was obviously the odd one out as it did not fit into the style of the rest of the Alhambra.
Alcazaba
The castle of the Alhambra was added to the city's area within the ramparts in the 9th century, which likely became a military fortress with its view over the whole city. In spite of this, it was not until the arrival of the first king of the Nasrid dynasty, Mohammed I, in the 13th century, that the royal residence was added to the Alhambra. This event marked the beginning of the Alhambra's most glorious period.
Yusuf I (1333-1353) and Mohammed V (1353-1391) are responsible for most of the constructions of the Alhambra that we can still admire today
Palacios Nazaries
When entering the star attraction of the Alhambra the "Nasrid Palace" we were told children 8 and under had to hold our hands while exploring the palaces. It began okay, but quickly became more and more difficult as we eventually made our way through the three included palaces and courtyards into more gardens.
The architectural elements are purely ornamental and they were stunning. "The decoration consists, as a rule, of Arabic inscriptions that are manipulated into sacred geometrical patterns wrought into arabesques." Painted tiles were largely used as paneling for the walls throughout the palaces.
This picture shows the sheer complexity of the "stalactite dome", or "Honeycomb" of the Abencerrages Hall.
Patio de los Leones
The Court of the Lions named for it's "ingenious" fountain of twelve lions in white marble. It was not designed with sculptural accuracy but as symbols of strength, power, and sovereignty. Each hour one lion would produce water from its mouth. This is just a simple example of the Muslims' genius at architecture, design and engineering during that time.
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In the 18th century the Alhambra was abandoned. During the French domination, part of the fortress was blown up and it was not until the 19th century that the process of repairing, restoring and preserving the complex began.
Antequera Dolmens
After Granada we headed toward Malaga with a quick stop in Antequera to see three megalithic burial tombs.
Dolmen of Menga
This megalithic building has been in existence for about 5000 years. It is considered to be the largest such structure in Europe. It is 25 meters long, and was built with thirty-two megaliths. After completion of the chamber (which probably served as a grave for the ruling families) and the path leading into the center, the stone structure was covered with earth. When the grave was opened in the 19th century, archaeologists found the skeletons of several hundred people inside.
Tholos de El Romeral
Tholos de El Romeral is one of the most important examples of Neolithic architecture in southern Europe. The Romeral Dolmen was built in 1800 BCE as a burial site. Human remains, shells and ceramics were found within this dolmen.
Malaga
The Malaga castle was amongst the most important centers of medieval Spain. The location of the castle on the Mediterranean coast overlooking a large natural harbor was a key site of the Roman empire. It was among the first sites to be colonized by the Muslims from north Africa in the 8th century and remained a major center for seven centuries almost until the end of Muslim Spain after the famous siege of Malaga in 1487.
Castillo de Gibralfaro
Unfortunately for us, we arrived 1/2 an hour after the ticket office closed for the entrance of the two Malaga castles so we only walked around the outside of the walls from the Gibralfaro to the Alcazaba. . The old Muslim castle, known as the Gibralfaro sits on a ridge that overlooks the city of Malaga. At the bottom of this ridge is the 11th century Alcazaba, (pictured) the younger Muslim palace-fortress. A long defensive rampart connects the two castles.
The castle is famous for its three-month siege by the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, on the final push of the reconquista that eventually led to the fall of Granada and the overthrow of Islamic Spain. It only ended when hunger forced the Malagueños to surrender. This was the first conflict in which gunpowder was used by both sides.
When I first saw this, I thought it said USA me, and as I was contemplating the meaning I realized it simply says "use me" in Spanish.
Here is a short clip of Kamree skipping as we were walking along the castle walls. She had a stick stuck to the back of her skirt as she climbed off the rocks so thus the appropriate stop.
It was quite a walk down from the Gibralfaro to the Alcazaba at the bottom of this ridge that we were a little anxious about climbing back up. Brent was gentlemanly enough to run back up to get the car and pick us up at the bottom.
I think this was taken just before the battery of my camera died. Of course we remembered to charge the spare unlike our last trip, but somehow didn't manage to pack it nor the charger. From here on out the pictures are taken on Kaiya's, Morgan's or my mom's camera.
The Alcazaba, itself was built over Roman remains. This theatre was built in the first century BC, under Emperor Augustus, and was used until the third century AD. It was eventually left in ruins for centuries, until the Moors settled in Andalucía. In 756-780AD the amphitheater was used as a quarry by the Moorish settlers, to build the fortress. Over time it became buried under dirt and rubble, and remained hidden there for nearly five centuries.
The theatre was rediscovered in 1951, when the construction of a Cultural House began. After uncoveringthe first archaeological clues, the construction was abandoned, and instead excavations began.
Beach?
We stopped at the first public beach between Malaga and Gibraltar that we could find both access to and a place to park. We stopped only briefly at the beach since we had didn't know how much time Gibraltar would take.
It was a really nice day to be outside, but the water was still very cold. I know my kids would disagree with me and they would have been soaked had we let them.
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean.
It has an area of only 2.3 square miles but it is home to almost 30,000 in it's densely populated city area.Gibraltar is a major point of contention between Gibraltar and Spain as Spain asserts a claim to the territory who in turn wants nothing to do with Spain. Since we have lived here there have been numerous issues in regards to this in the news. It was rather nice to be able to fully communicate again.
We hadn't done enough research before arriving in Gibraltar and we weren't quite sure how we would get to the top of the rock. As we were searching for parking we ran into this parking lot at the base of a cable car. It was the perfect answer!
We've seen so much history since we have lived here that we were eager to finally see something different, "the semi-wild Monkeys" of Gibraltar. As we were riding up the cable car we began to see them along the roads below. There is one sitting on the barrier straight down.There are approximately 300 tailless monkeys "Barbary macaques" in Gibraltar, The Barbary macaque population is the only one in the European continent.
The macaque population had been present on the Rock of Gibraltar long before Gibraltar was captured by the British in 1704. The original introduction of the macaques was most likely orchestrated by the Moors (between 711 and 1492), who kept them as pets.
Aren't they adorable? The monkeys were quite cute as well, right? I think some of us could have stayed here all day watching the monkeys since they were soooo cute, but sadly, we did have a lot of ground to cover.
This clip is just after a monkey stole a toddler's ice cream cone , taking no time savoring it as he gobbled it down, paper wrapper and all. There is a hefty fine for feeding the monkeys here, but this monkey was guilty of stealing, not sure if there is a fine for that.
This video isn't the best quality; it shows some monkeys fighting and a few on-looking monkeys "hissing" them on. Our kids were laughing, but honestly, it was a little intimidating.
The views from the rock were breathtaking.
Of course you can't tell how far down the water is from the pictures, but believe me that it was a little frightening to look down. The Jurassic limestone "Rock of Gibraltar" is 1,398 ft. high.
From here you can see the northern coast of Africa. We are hoping to someday soon be over there exploring.
"Adorable" and what a view!
This made me so nervous, that I had to get a picture. It was straight down to a small road or something and then ocean.
From this picture you can see how windy it was at the top, the city of Gibraltar and in the background, the coast of Spain.
St. Michael's Cave
There are approximately 150 caves within the Rock of Gibraltar that appear at all levels, some of which are sea caves, proving that the Rock had been submerged under water for some time throughout history. The caves are full of history; valuable artifacts and information dating to the Neanderthal and Neolithic periods have been found in some of the caves.
Underground Tunnels
Gibraltar contains many tunneled roads, most of which are still operated by the military. In 1940, during the war, Winston Churchill and the British military leaders believed that an attack on Gibraltar was imminent. Their solution was to build a fortress inside a fortress, a city within a city, a massive network of tunnels in fact a 32 mile-long network of tunnels. They are an extension to The Tunnels excavated during The Great Siege of 1779-83.
The picture on the left is taken in a tunnel for foot soldiers, which had several port holes for artillery.
After entering the tunnel in two small groups we met up 15 minutes later a bit into them and realized none of us had Kamree . It took Brent 5 minutes to run back up the tunnel to the entrance and find her sobbing in the ticket office and the officer asking him how he could lose her.
Our walking tour all the way across the mountain and back also included an old castle and some old World War II forts. Before we had made it to our last destination, still atop the mountain, our legs were extremely tired and yet still had to carry us down to our very comfortable vehicle.
Castle of Santa Olalla del Cala
We pulled off in Santa Olalla del Cala after seeing this castle from the freeway.
The road to get up to the castle was quite narrow and was in need of an update.
The fortress was built by the Christian king of Castile, Sancho IV in the thirteenth century replacing a much smaller fortress which had been built earlier by the Muslim rulers of Andalucía.
The old Muslim structure is thought to have been built on top of a much earlier Roman fortification which seems to be the norm.
Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion
The church to the right has had many different uses since it was first built in the 9th century. In the 10th century it was a synagogue and was the Jewish quarter of the village. During the period of Muslim occupation the building became a mosque.Of course it is now used as a Catholic Church of "Nuestra Senora".
The donkeys were perfect timing to help us feel the ambiance of this old town.
Merida
Our second time here but one of our favorite historical cites in Spain.
This is the entrance to the coliseum.
and the entrance to the theater. You can seethe 4 kids, including a dancing Mason.
El Circo Romano
This was modeled after the Circus Maximus in Rome and other circus buildings throughout the empire used for chariot racing. Measuring more than 400m in length and 30m of width, it is one of the best preserved examples of a Roman circus. The circus could entertain up to 30,000 spectators.
National Museum of Roman Art
This museum contains the original artifacts from all the excavations in Merida. The present-day museum was constructed over a still-buried portion of the old Roman town.
The museum includes several thousand items including this large tile floor that we imagine took countless hours to prepare for display
Besides the ceramics, glassware, coins, sculptures, paintings and mosaics you can see tombstones,. and other archaeological excavations currently in progress in the basement.
This museum also includes sections of an old roman highway in the basement
Castles
We passed 5 castles within about a mile stretch just before Caceres. Not sure of the name of this castle.
Castillo de las Arguijuelas de Arriba
This privately owned castle was built in the early 16th century.
Castilla de las Arguijuelas de Abajo
This castle built between the 15th and 16th centuries was just below the "arriba" above castle.
Old town ofCaceres
"Cáceres is an outstanding example of a city that was ruled from the 14th to 16th centuries by powerful rival factions: fortified houses, palaces and towers dominate its spatial configuration. " We drove through here on our trip in December but due to it raining cats and dogs we weren't able to even park.
The city's history of battles between Moors and Christians is seen in its architecture, which includes Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance styles.
Here is an archway to the Plaza Mayor with some adorable sculptures.
This old town seemed to be covered in stone from top to bottom,
After exploring these old narrow streets we happened to run into the Caceres Museum. It housed a fascinating collection of historical artifacts from the Palaeolithic, the Copper Age, the Bronze Age, and the pre-Roman and Roman eras. There was also a section dedicated to ethnography.
I won't post many pictures so just imagine a lot of cool things and that is likely what we saw.
This is just as I imagine the old Spanish fashions.
Our favorite part of the museum was this Moorish cistern in the basement. It was a pleasant surprise that we nearly missed.
Trujillo
Again this is the birthplace of Pizarro. We only pulled off the freeway to take this one last photo.
