Andalucia

  • Andalucia, Spain - largest southernmost region
    • cities: Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada, Málaga
    • Moors ruled from 711-1492
    • came from Africa
    • Language: Arabic
    • Andalucia = Al Andalus = country of the vandals
  • Granada - La Alhambra
    • last Moorish stronghold to fall to the Christians in 1492
    • Sierra Nevadas defended them (hard for king ferdinand)
      • use human shields - defeat Moors by sheer numbers
    • King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella
    • wanted to convert everyone to Christianity
    • sent Christopher Columbus
      • went to Canary Islands first to resupply
    • Also known as El Castillo Rojo
    • 3 Main Areas
    • Alcazaba - military zone or barracks, oldest part
    • Palatine - city or palaces of royalty
    • Generalife - garden of the sultan
    • Aqueducts: natural water flow through aqueducts
    • Nasrid Palaces: business & judicial meetings, calligraphy
    • Guadalquivir River
    • only navigable river in Spain
    • Arabic = Al Wad Al Kabir = great river
    • flows through Córdoba & Sevilla = important trading centers
  • Sevilla
    • Real Alcazár de Sevilla: royal palaces
    • Puerta del León: entrance to palaces
    • original palaces only have 1 floor, but added another during colonial times
    • gardens
    • Cathedrals
    • largest gothic church in the world
    • shape is always a cross
      • middle = main altar
      • El Coro (choir)
      • 15thc. woodwork
      • Organ 18thc 7000 pipes, Baroque
    • Tomb of Colón (Columbus)
      • bury cardinals and saints
      • cardinals hat marks grave
      • legend says Columbus is buried in that tomb
    • La Giralda Tower
    • muslim mosque
    • Christians (1492) destroy all mosques
      • La Giralda remains
  • La Plaza España
    • World´s Fair 1929 - centerpiece
    • Ibero-American Expo
    • within El Parque María Luisa
    • houses many gov officials
    • many famous movies
    • tiles: Azulejos - handpainted
  • Flamenco
    • 4 types
    • Alegrías = happy
    • Soleares = serious
    • fandangos = folksy
    • saetas = sung during Semana Santa ( holy week - week before Easter)
    • Themes
    • death
    • religion
    • love
    • guitar music and palo seco
    • spanish: “dry stick” a stick beat on the floor to keep time
    • duende
    • intensely focused trancelike look by the dances
  • Córdoba - La Mezquita
    • mosque - largest in Córdoba
    • christians wanted moors to be destroyed for good
    • tore down mosqeus, but also put Christian images inside
    • built cathedral around the mosque
  • Málaga (city near coast)
    • Caminito Del Rey - trail
    • built 1905, refurbished 1980s, reopened 2015
    • Paella
    • rice dish
    • Gazpacho
    • cold tomato soup
    • Pablo Picasso
    • born in Málaga (1881-1973)
    • Guernica protested the Spanish civil war
      • name of city in northern spain in Baske
      • ruler of Spain (Franco) friends with Hitler
      • sent bombers to Guernica bc suspicious of rebels
        • not many were actually rebels
    • Federico Garciá Lorca (1898-1936)
    • wrote the “Rural Trilogy”
      • Bodas de Sangre - blood weddings
      • La Casa de Bernarda Alba - The House of Bernarda Alba
      • Yerma
    • executed at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War
      • protestor against Franco
    • El AVE Tren (1992)
    • bullet train
    • 1992 - World Expo & Olympics (Barcelona)
      • used money granted
    • Madrid to Sevilla in 3hrs
    • Bullfighting
    • let the bull out and let it run
    • tire out the bull by provoking it
    • Banderilleros
      • on horseback w/ spear
      • stick spears in the back of the bull
      • enrages the bull
    • Matador
      • has a cape and a sword
      • closer = more bravo
      • jam the sword into the bull’s head right above the eye to hit the spinal chord
      • goal: full length of the sword inside bull
    • process the bull