Mark Meek's Ideas: Southern Spain

Hispania, from which the terms "Hispanic" and "Spain" come from, was the Roman name of the Iberian Peninsula, which comprises Spain and Portugal. The name was also used by the Visigoths, which ruled the peninsula afterward. The Moors, Moslems from north Africa, began their conquest of the peninsula in 711. The Moors ruled for over 700 years, with the reconquest of Spain by the Catholics being completed in 1492.

We saw the rule of Spain by the Moors in the posting on this blog, "When The Moors Ruled Spain". Churches that had been there before Moorish rule were converted into mosques, then back to churches when Moorish rule ended.

Toledo is a very old city in the geographical center of Spain. It originated in Roman times but was the royal and religious center during Visigoth rule. It is especially known for it's steel and swords. Toledo was the capital of Spain after the Catholics had regained control from the Moors. But the Moslems had built a fortress to the north of the city to defend it. That fortress grew into a city itself, and King Phillip II moved the capital to there from Toledo. The fortress that became a city is now known as Madrid.

These two scenes, from Google Earth, are of the ancient fortress that was known during Moorish rule as the Alcazar.

These two scenes, from Google Street View, are of the wall in the old part of Toledo.

These two scenes, from Google Street View, are of the Bisagra Gate in the wall of Toledo.

These three views, from Google Earth and Street View, are of Toledo Cathedral.

A Visigoth cathedral was replaced by a mosque upon the Moor conquest, which was replaced by the current cathedral of Toledo upon the Catholic reconquest. The following scenes of old Toledo begin there. The fortress on the high ground is the Alcazar and dates to Roman times, although it has been rebuilt.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.8542876,-4.0253725,3a,75y,89.82h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCILM50ah9CbF32jTKQ3gCQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DCILM50ah9CbF32jTKQ3gCQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D89.76152%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Merida is a city of Roman origin that is especially known for it's Roman ruins. The first of the following scenes, from Google Street View, are of a fortress called the Alcazaba. We can see that these fortresses are from Moorish times in that these are Arabic, not Spanish, names.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9144617,-6.3417639,3a,75y,64.15h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sjv2tWCLlCI-qOX-A9bnCzw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Djv2tWCLlCI-qOX-A9bnCzw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D58.09209%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Seville is a very ancient settlement. It is the center of Andalusia, as the southern part of Spain is called after the Moorish name for Spain. After the Catholic reconquest of Spain it really grew as the most important Spanish port of trade with the western Hemisphere. But the river silted and Cadiz became an alternate port. For a thousand years, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was the largest cathedral in the world. It was finally surpassed by Seville Cathedral, and this is where Christopher Columbus is buried.

The first three scenes, from Google Earth and Street View, are of Seville Cathedral. Notice the Gothic style buttresses on the outside to support much of the weight of the roof, so the walls can have large areas of stained glass. But Spanish cathedrals do not seem to be as much into stained glass as those in England and France.

Modern art is part of it too. These two scenes, from Google Earth and Street View, are of the great work of art in Seville. If you are not sure what to make of it, that is part of the plan. It develops one's imagination.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.3856704,-5.9931543,3a,75y,70.46h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO3iWSzQEUxJu0o8D8XoAFRNNhKwS56mGTU5AlU!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO3iWSzQEUxJu0o8D8XoAFRNNhKwS56mGTU5AlU%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya359.9295-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

This is more of Seville.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.400161,-5.9906474,3a,75y,74.9h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1snFzUc0IZ8zqdMwUHXJ7Yjg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DnFzUc0IZ8zqdMwUHXJ7Yjg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D71.236626%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

In ancient times, there were two sea-faring nations that established colonies on coasts around the Mediterranean. Generally, the Greeks stayed to the European side of the Mediterranean and the Phoenicians to the African side. Aside from southern Italy, Marseille began as a Greek colony. Carthage, today known as Tunis, began as a Phoenician colony. But that was not a strict rule. As we saw in our visit on this blog, "Malta And Jerusalem", Malta was a Phoenician colony. Another Phoenician colony on the European side of the Mediterranean is the Spanish coastal city of Cadiz.

The first image, from Google Earth, is of the waterfront fortress in Cadiz that was built much later. It is similar to Castillo San Marco, in St. Augustine Florida.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5350273,-6.2977415,3a,75y,153.15h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSv9bGHunVji0jRsIGIUvug!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DSv9bGHunVji0jRsIGIUvug%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D157.86217%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is the more modern part of Cadiz.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5164141,-6.2792218,3a,75y,62.35h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sYZfW1a7GVlIwv38MihtOvQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DYZfW1a7GVlIwv38MihtOvQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D56.895584%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Cordoba is probably the best-known city of southern Spain. It was the Moslem capital of Spain and close to the largest city in Europe. It was known for it's great university that attracted students from all over Europe. As we saw in the posting on this blog, "When The Moors Ruled Spain", Moslem Spain was a third channel through which outside knowledge came into Europe during it's "Dark Ages". The other two channels were the scholars leaving Constantinople for western Europe, especially Florence, after the Ottoman conquest, and the great "House of Wisdom" library at Baghdad. Baghdad was built as a capital by the Abbassid Caliphate, which had supplanted the Umayyad Caliphate, with their capital at Damascus, but the Umayyads continued on in Spain. The Umayyads had built the two mosques on the Temple Mount that we saw in "Esau And The Temple Mount".

The best-known building in Cordoba, and certainly one of the most important buildings in the world, is the Cathedral Mosque, or Mezquita. As the name implies, it was a mosque during Moorish rule and then converted to a cathedral upon the Catholic reconquest.

The following four images, from Google Earth and Street View, are of the inside and outside of the Mezquita. The roof is supported by those rows of double arches. Is it a coincidence that the design of the Spanish flag is the same as the pattern on the arches?

The following scenes begin inside the Mezquita. Notice that, if you put the mouse pointer on the floor of the cathedral, an arrow appears so that you can "walk" all around the inside.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8789059,-4.7794232,2a,75y,73.32h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1shEWNcg8UNb8lpRI7y2VnPw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DhEWNcg8UNb8lpRI7y2VnPw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D69.215904%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

There is more to the old part of Cordoba.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8902619,-4.7715212,3a,75y,192.43h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sevfPx6jARGkF7r9GWh4ROg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DevfPx6jARGkF7r9GWh4ROg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D189.86795%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Malaga is another ancient city on the southern coast of Spain that, like Cadiz, is of Phoenician origin. The first three images, from Google Earth, are of Malaga Cathedral and the fortress called the Alcazaba.