The Hidden World beneath the Ancient Alhambra Fortress - BBC REEL

Feb 20, 2020 | The ancient fortress of the Alhambra has a fascinating history, passing from Moorish sultans to Catholic kings. Today it is one of Spain's most visited tourist attractions and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

However, very few know of the secret world of the Alhambra that lies unseen below the surface - a hidden network of tunnels and dungeons, off limits to tourists, that are still being uncovered and understood by archaeologists today.

Video by Izabela Cardoso and Fernando Teixeira

Al-Andalus : L'Alhambra, joyau éternel de l'art islamique | Part 2 | SLICE Histoire

Oct 21, 2024 | Dès 711, l’invasion fulgurante des troupes arabo-berbères marque le début d’une transformation historique de la péninsule ibérique. Partant du sud, à Gibraltar, face au Maghreb, les forces musulmanes remportent la victoire décisive à la bataille de Guadalete contre le roi wisigoth Rodrigue, ouvrant ainsi la voie à l’expansion d’Al-Andalus. En seulement 5 ans, les conquérants musulmans dominent toute la péninsule, jusqu'à la Galice, à 900 kilomètres au nord.

Sous domination musulmane pendant près de huit siècles, Al-Andalus devient un carrefour de cultures, où sciences, arts et savoir prospèrent. L’influence musulmane redessine le territoire espagnol, érigeant des palais somptueux, des mosquées grandioses et des infrastructures urbaines qui enrichiront durablement le patrimoine culturel de l'Espagne moderne. Cette présence marque un tournant dans l’histoire de la péninsule, dont les trésors architecturaux, comme l’Alhambra ou la Grande Mosquée de Cordoue, sont parmi les plus beaux joyaux de l’Espagne d’aujourd'hui.

Documentaire : Histoire de L’Espagne Vue du Ciel – Ep2 : Al Andalus, l’Espagne Musulmane
Réalisateur : Mike Magidson
Production : Point du Jour

Al-Andalus : Comment l'Islam a façonné l'Espagne | Part 1 | SLICE Histoire

Oct 14, 2024 | Dès 711, l’invasion fulgurante des troupes arabo-berbères marque le début d’une transformation historique de la péninsule ibérique. Partant du sud, à Gibraltar, face au Maghreb, les forces musulmanes remportent la victoire décisive à la bataille de Guadalete contre le roi wisigoth Rodrigue, ouvrant ainsi la voie à l’expansion d’Al-Andalus. En seulement 5 ans, les conquérants musulmans dominent toute la péninsule, jusqu'à la Galice, à 900 kilomètres au nord.

Sous domination musulmane pendant près de huit siècles, Al-Andalus devient un carrefour de cultures, où sciences, arts et savoir prospèrent. L’influence musulmane redessine le territoire espagnol, érigeant des palais somptueux, des mosquées grandioses et des infrastructures urbaines qui enrichiront durablement le patrimoine culturel de l'Espagne moderne. Cette présence marque un tournant dans l’histoire de la péninsule, dont les trésors architecturaux, comme l’Alhambra ou la Grande Mosquée de Cordoue, sont parmi les plus beaux joyaux de l’Espagne d’aujourd'hui.

Documentaire : Histoire de L’Espagne Vue du Ciel – Ep2 : Al Andalus, l’Espagne Musulmane
Réalisateur : Mike Magidson
Production : Point du Jour

Jewish Learning Institute: The Real Story of the Jews Under Muslim Rule

May 12, 2024 | Dive into history with Rabbi Prof. Jeffrey Woolf -- internationally known scholar, lecturer, and historian -- as he uncovers the truth about the relationship between Jews and Muslims during the Golden Age in Spain.

In this enlightening episode, discover whether ''convivencia,'' peaceful coexistence, was a reality or merely a myth. Join us as we unravel the intricacies of religious and cultural dynamics that shaped this fascinating era.

Das arabische Erbe: vielschichtige Kultur | Karambolage España | ARTE

Dec 13, 2023 | Chloé Merccion erkundet ein wichtiges Kapitel der spanischen Geschichte: das arabische Erbe des Landes.

Autorin: Chloé Merccion
Regie: Stéphanie Cazaentre
Video auf YouTube verfügbar bis zum 22/06/2053

Omar of the Orient: The Secret Muslim History of Spanish Culture

Sep 1, 2023 | Islam was a social and political force in Spain for over 800 years; 3 times the entire history of the United States; and yet, the impact the Muslims had on Spain and modern Spanish culture is rarely ever acknowledged.

In this episode, Omar tells us the story of how Islam entered Spain, how the Muslims of that time still have influence on modern Spanish Culture and some possible reasons why Spain's Muslim past is rarely discussed today.

Al-Andalus | History of Islamic Spain | Part 1 | الأندلس

May 10. 2009 | Muslim Spain, Muslim Iberia, or Islamic Iberia, was a medieval Muslim territory and cultural domain that in its early period occupied most of Iberia, today's Portugal and Spain. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied the northwest of the Iberian peninsula and a part of present day southern France Septimania (8th century) and for nearly a century (9th–10th centuries) extended its control from Fraxinet over the Alpine passes which connect Italy with the remainder of Western Europe During the Islamic 'golden age' between the 8th and 14th century, al-Andalus became a hub for social and cultural exchange, while the arts, science, architecture, agriculture, medicine and mathemathics flourished.

Many attribute these achievements to religious tolerance and collaboration between Muslims, Christians and Jews, which is why that period of history is also sometimes referred to as La Convivencia, or co-existence.

The era also produced some of the most significant scholars, poets, musicians, philosophers, historians and thinkers of the medieval age - such as Ibn Arabi, Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes), al-Zarqali (Arzachel in Latin), al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis in Latin) and Ibn Firnas, among others.

The Secret Muslim History of Spanish Culture

Sept 1, 2022 | Islam was a social and political force in Spain for over 800 years; 3 times the entire history of the United States. And yet, the impact the Muslims had on Spain and modern Spanish culture is rarely ever acknowledged.

Islamic 12th-Century Bathhouse Uncovered in Seville Tapas Bar

THE GUARDIAN: Dazzling geometric motifs dating from Almohad caliphate discovered during renovation of city’s bar

A magnificently decorated 12th-century Islamic bathhouse, replete with dazzling geometric motifs and skylights in the form of eight-pointed stars, has emerged, a little improbably, from the walls and vaulted ceilings of a popular tapas bar in the heart of the southern Spanish city of Seville.

Last summer, the owners of the Cervercería Giralda – which has been pouring cañas and copas near Seville’s cathedral since 1923 – decided to take advantage of local roadworks and the coronavirus pandemic to set about a long-delayed renovation.

Although local legend and the odd historical document had suggested the site may once have been an ancient hammam, most people had assumed the Giralda’s retro look was down to the neomudéjar, or Islamic revival style, in which the architect Vicente Traver built the bar and hotel above it in the early 1920s. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Thursday, February 18, 2021

Al-Andalus sous la domination des musulmans espagnols (711 – 1492)

ANDALOUSIE: La conquête d’ Al-Andalus par les musulmans, puisque c’est ainsi qu’il nommèrent l’Espagne, se caractérisa par sa rapidité et sa facilité. Au début du 8ème siècle, le royaume wisigoth qui dominait l’Espagne était très affaibli par la corruption et la lutte de ses gouvernants, ce qui supposa que l’occupation des territoires par les musulmansayant traversé le détroit, fut très rapide.

Les communautés chrétiennes et juives furent tolérées en échange de tributs, raison pour laquelle la population d’Al-Andalus fut un tel mélange de races et de croyances.

A priori, il semble difficile de comprendre comment les peuples musulmans, qui tiennent la « guerre sainte » comme un de leurs percepts fondamentaux, permirent à d’autres religions de coexister dans les terres qu’ils occupaient. L’explication en est que les religions juives et chrétiennes sont toutes deux monothéistes, apparentées à l’Islam par le biais d’Abraham (père des trois religions). De plus, pour les musulmans, juifs et chrétiens étaient des « frères » qui se trompaient simplement et qui ne voulaient pas accepter le message d’Allah. Les musulmans appelaient les chrétiens et les juifs Ahl-al-kitab, les « gents du livre » (la Bible), duquel ils assumaient même une partie des traditions et des révélations antérieures. Pour ces raisons, ils leur octroyèrent un statut spécial.

Ce qui caractéristique le séjour des musulmans en Al-Andalus fut la fragmentation et la fragilité de ses territoires, qui firent qu’ Al-Andalus ne connut jamais de domination pacifique. Ce furent des temps de guerres continuelles, tantôt avec les chrétiens, qui petit à petit formaient un siège par le nord ; tantôt avec les musulmans eux-mêmes ; ou encore avec des tribus du nord de l’Afrique, qui tentaient également sans cesse des invasions par le sud. En conséquence, pour pouvoir maintenir la paix sur les territoires, les dominateurs devaient maintenir la paix en ayant recours à des politiques de pactes et d’alliances. Ainsi la domination musulmane en Al-Andalus et Grenade passa par diverses périodes bien distinctes. » | Pas d'attribution d'écriture | Sans date

The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain | A PBS Documentary

Lessons from the Golden Era of Andalusia [ الاندلس ] | Al Jazeera World

Saadane Benbabaali is an Algerian academic whose ancestors came from what is now the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. He has retired from teaching literature and Arabic at Paris University III. But for 15 years, Benbabaali has led groups of students on annual trips to Andalusia to share his passion and knowledge about the region and its rich history.

He believes that the period of Arab Muslim rule over the Iberian Peninsula was arguably the only time in European history when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived relatively peacefully together, producing a common culture and harmonious society.

He also thinks that the period and place have powerful lessons for what he sees as today's fractured world. … [Cont’d: https://youtu.be/GGotnIfQaQg ]

Arabs in Spain – Award Winning Documentary

Fascinating and beautifully shot documentary which examines the spread of Islam and how its crusaders finally took most of Spain, arriving from Morocco in 711. In one summer the "Arabs had taken half of the peninsular and in five years controlled almost all of the country".

A Short History of The Moors –Trailer

Granada, the word in Spanish means pomegranate, a fruit brought to Spain by Moslem tribes from North Africa, in the 8th century.

They were known as the Moors and they came to Europe from what is now known as Morocco. For nearly 800 years the Moors ruled in Granada. And for nearly as long in a wider territory of that became known as Moorish Spain or Al-Andalus.

In Granada, where the Moors first came in 711, they built a fortress palace, the Alhambra. It was never conquered by their enemies but in 1492 the Moors surrendered their citadel, by then the last outpost of Moorish Spain, to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabel. It would bring to an end an era and mark the beginnings of the Spanish Inquisition.r

But much of what the Moors built on the Iberian Peninsula and in their North African homelands has survived, and can still be visited today. In this episode of Short History of the World, we explore the rich architectural legacy of the Moors, the dynasties that built an empire, and what they left behind.

Documentary: When the Moors Ruled in Europe

Spain's Islamic Legacy Source of Controversy | Focus on Europe

Andalusia has a rich Islamic past. Its Mosque of Cordoba is world-famous. But now that some Arab countries have donated money to restore such architectural treasures, Spain's right-wing populists are stoking fears.

In Search of the Spirit of Al-Andalus

With the Moorish architecture of Granada's Alhambra and Córdoba cathedral as a backdrop, Marcel Theroux meets a group of Spanish Muslims who are drawing on the area's Islamic legacy to a promote a new religious tolerance

Documentary: Portugal's Moorish Legacy

In this documentary, we uncover the influence that 500 years of Muslim occupation had on Portugal and Portuguese culture. We visit some important sights and hear from Portuguese people regarding their views on this significant part of their history.

While in Spain, the seven centuries of Muslim rule is very well-known, in Portugal it typically goes unnoticed. Despite being overlooked at times, the Islamic occupation, known as its Moorish past, has had a huge impact on Portugal.

The Muslims invaded present-day Portugal in the year 711 and established their capital in what is modern day "Silves". A significant part of this documentary takes us to Silves, which is still one of the best places in Portugal to see the influence of the Muslim period. Silves was the main access route to the inland areas of the Algarve, and the Silves castle, which was built by the Almoravid Arabs in the 11th century, is the best-preserved and most significant castle in the region. One of Portugal's main tourist attractions are its the beautiful beaches in the Algarve region. The name Algarve itself is derived from the Arabic word "al-Gharb", meaning the West. Portugal was the most Western part of the Muslim Empire and it was officially referred to as al-Gharb al-Andalus, meaning West of Al-Andalus. Nowadays Al-Andalus is often referred to as Muslim Spain, or Islamic Iberia.

It is not just the physical monuments which make Portugal’s Muslim past evident, but you can also find it in the country’s language and culture, even though the entire Reconquest centred around getting rid of Islamic influence altogether. Some Arabic words have permanently entered the Portuguese language, words for sugar, rice, olive oil, lettuce, village, the West and many others. Even Portugal’s most popular holiday spot, Albufeira, gets its name from Arabic, having then been called (Albuhayra) which means the lake in Arabic. The journey also takes us to Sintra, among other places, where the massive Moorish Castle stands. It was built by Muslims between the 9th and 10th centuries, the castle was vital in order to protect its population.

The southernmost region of Portugal, was finally conquered by Christians and taken away from the Muslims in 1249, and in 1255 the capital shifted to Lisbon. Neighbouring Spain would not complete its Reconquista until 1492.

Lessons from the Golden Era of Andalusia | Al Jazeera World

Colliding Worldviews: What is the Andalusian Problem?