Umayyad Route
From Algeciras to Granada
The Umayyad Route begins in Algeciras (al-Yazirat al-Khadra in Arabic), the gateway through which Islam entered the Iberian Peninsula and where the new conquerors that crossed the Straits of Gibraltar in the year 711 stationed their armies. It was here that Tarik reorganized his troops that same year before taking on the Visigoths.
Our next stop is the delightful town of Medina Sidonia. On its part, the city of Seville already had a dynamic cosmopolitan past when it was conquered by the Muslims in the year 712. Isbiliya, as it was known in Arabic, became one of the most important cities in al-Andalus, of which it was briefly the capital city. From here we move on to the neighbour town, Carmona, in the heart of the Sevillian countryside and where the Arab tribes from Yemen settled, including the Ibn Khaldun, the family of the great historian of the same name.
Our journey continues along the valley of the River Genil, where we will arrive to Écija, and thence to Córdoba, the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, its spiritual centre and powerbase, capital of the arts and wisdom and home to one of the most important buildings in the Islamic West, the Great Mosque, built on the instructions of the overlord of al-Andalus Abd al-Rahman I.
In the Province of Córdoba we will make stopover in three towns that played important strategic and defensive roles: Carcabuey, Priego de Córdoba and Zuheros. From Alcalá la Real, in Jaén, and its impressive Qalat (fort), we will set out on the last stage of the route towards Almuñécar (al-Munakab), where the exiled Umayyad Emir Abderrahman I, known as al-Dakhil (the Immigrant), first entered the Peninsula. Lastly, we arrive to Granada, which had a forerunner in the Emirate and Caliphate periods in the now vanished city of Madinat Ilbira.
Itinerary:
Algeciras – Medina Sidonia – Sevilla – Carmona – Écija – Córdoba – Zuheros – Carcabuey – Priego de Córdoba – Alcalá la Real – Almuñécar– Granada
Route of the Caliphate
from Córdoba to Granada
Route of Washington Irving
from La Rábida (Huelva) to Seville and Granada
Route of the Nasrids
from Navas de Tolosa to Jaén and Granada
Route of Almoravids and Almohads
from Algeciras to Granada
Route of las Alpujarras
from Almería to Granada
Route of Ibn al-Khatib
from Murcia to Granada
Route of al-Idrisi
from Málaga to Granada
Route of al-Mutamid
from Lisbon to Seville and Granada
Umayyad Route
from Algeciras to Granada
Walks through Granada
