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Andalucia:
Appearances Deceiving by Helen Matthews In April I spent a week in Andalucia, staying in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Granada and Seville, where I sampled the excellent fresh fish and seafood and learned about Spanish and Moorish history. The most important dates in Spanish history are 711, when virtually the whole peninsula was overrun by the Moors, and 1492, when the last of the Moors were driven out by the ‘Catholic Kings', Ferdinand and Isabella and Columbus set sail on his voyage of discovery. It is not entirely coincidental that two events of such significance occurred in 1492. It was in the euphoria of the conquest of Granada that Isabella finally decided to support Columbus' expedition. El Puerto de Santa Maria is situated in the bay of Cadiz on the Costa de la Luz. The coastline here is not so well known to English holiday makers as the Costa del Sol, and is not particularly picturesque, but it does have wide sandy beaches. Puerto is however famous for three things: sherry, seafood and Christopher Columbus (or Cristobal Colon as he is known to his Spanish friends) who stayed there as a guest of the city knights from 1483-1486. Later, his ship, the Santa Maria, was fitted out in Puerto. Puerto is a good base for visiting other towns in the province. Jerez de la Frontera, the home of sherry, can be reached by train in about 15 minutes, and Cadiz in 25 minutes. There is also a ferry to Cadiz, a town which is well worth a visit. There are no major tourist ‘sights' but it is a town with lots of history. Founded in 1100 BC, it is probably the oldest continuous settlement in western Europe. Drake came here in the sixteenth century to ‘singe the King of Spain's beard' and the battle of Trafalgar was fought just to the south. Crammed into a tiny peninsula, the city's narrow streets can easily be explored on foot. Granada was the last bastion of the Moors in Spain. Visitors flock here to see the Alhambra, the palace of the Nasrid kings of Granada, which was finally surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. A substantial amount of the Moorish buildings survive, despite the efforts of the emperor Charles V, who built an extremely incongruous renaissance palace in the middle of the complex. The Alhambra has a long tradition of attracting visitors. In 1832, an American diplomat called Washington Irving published Tales of the Alhambra, a book describing his experiences of living for a few months in the Alhambra and the legends he heard of Moorish enchantments. Most guidebooks seem to view Granada as ‘nice Alhambra, shame about the rest of the town', but this is rather unfair as the town is not that bad. The Alhambra, on the other hand, was almost a disappointment. Although it was only April, and we arrived at 9.00am we had to queue for almost an hour for tickets. I imagine it must be much worse in high season. The ticket has three parts; one for the Alcazabar, one for the gardens of the Generalife and one for the royal palace. The ticket for the royal palace is on a timed basis - we had a two hour wait - but the other parts of the ticket may be used at any time. The Alcazabar is the old Moorish fortress, and its main attraction is the view over the city which can be seen from its tower. The royal palace is the star attraction, with its arches, courtyards and fountains evocative of the Arabian Nights. The main problem was not that it did not live up to expectations (although it was rather smaller than I had imagined) but that it was so crowded, mainly with bored children on school visits. It was very difficult, even armed with a copy of Washington Irving, to experience any atmosphere or to imagine it in its heyday. Our guidebook suggested that the atmosphere was best during an evening visit, but unfortunately we were unable to try this as evening openings are restricted to Saturdays in April. We ended our visit in the gardens of the Generalife, the summer retreat of the Moors. I had been looking forward to these as much as to the royal palace, and they fully lived up to my expectations, but unfortunately part was closed for restoration. If you are planning a visit to the Alhambra, be sure to read Tales of the Alhambra before you go in order to put yourself in the right frame of mind. If you have trouble finding a copy, there are plenty for sale in Granada, and it will be something to read while in the queue. From Granada we made a day trip to Cordoba, once the seat of the Umayyad Caliphs and the largest and most civilised city in western Europe. Doctors here were carrying out cataract operations in the twelfth century. After the fall of the caliphate, Cordoba fell into comparative obscurity, but its mosque, the Mezquita, survives as a fascinating monument of Moorish culture. The first impression it gives is of a forest of columns supporting distinctive red and white double arches. The original structure made use of ‘recycled' Visigothic and Roman columns, which were not always the same size. Some had to be sunk into the floor while others were placed on plinths. The mosque was enlarged on three occasions in the ninth and tenth centuries by the addition of extra rows of columns, and in the later sections the columns are more regular. The most unusual thing about the mosque is that its centre conceals a Christian cathedral. The effect of this is made even more startling by the fact that it took two centuries to complete and is a bizarre mix of gothic, baroque and rococo styles. Many visitors are horrified by the apparent vandalism of the sixteenth century bishop who ordered its construction, but the construction of the cathedral inside the mosque at least ensured the latter's survival. Many mosques were simply demolished. The other major example of Moorish architecture in Cordoba, the Alcazar, being closed for restoration, the remainder of our visit was spent on a patio crawl. The people of Andalucia take a great pride in filling their patios, which are shared by a number of families, with flowers. In Cordoba, prizes are awarded each May for the best patios. Seville recently hosted Expo `92, a world fair. Earlier this century, the city hosted the Spanish-American fair. You do not need to be the Prince of Wales to notice the contrast between the sites. The site of the 1992 Expo strongly resembles an out of town retail park full of DIY superstores. The Marie-Luisa Park, the site of the 1929 Spanish-American Fair, is completely different. A beautifully landscaped park surrounds the pavilions, each of which is in the traditional style of the country which staged the exhibit. The most famous is the Spanish pavilion on the Plaza Espana, which resembles a royal palace and is depicted in all the travel brochures. Around the facade are scenes representing Spanish provinces made from the local azulejo tiles. Seville has another building which looks like a royal palace - the former royal tobacco factory, immortalised in Carmen, and now part of the university. The real royal palace, the Alcazar, however, resembles a Moorish fortress. The confusion ends with the cathedral, which could not be mistaken for anything else. It is supposedly the largest gothic cathedral in Europe. It is also inhabited by a large colony of bats, as we noticed when walking past after dark. The cities of Andalucia are well worth a visit, whether you are interested in history, architecture, horticulture or food and wine. But remember... things are not always what they seem. First published in VISA issue 21 (summer 1996) |
