Stop #14: The Alhambra and the tomb of Catholic Monarchs are the biggest attractions of Granada. I have reserved the Alhambra photos for a separate portfolio and it will be obvious why. The place is one of Spain’s most visited attractions. We stayed very close to the Alhambra at a B&B called Casa Morisca. The […]
Stop 13: The Mezquita (Mosque) was built between the 8th and 10th centuries. On the outside, you see a stone building with little color, but enter inside and you have colorful Spanish Islamic arches that make you feel as though the building doesn’t end for miles. It has 850 columns of jasper, marble, granite, and […]
Stop 12: Highlights: The Roman Walls surrounding Cordoba were built after the Romans captured the city in 206 BC. The walls are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site designating the town’s historic center. Mezquita (Mosque) – see this portfolio here. The Mezquita is Córdoba’s mosque that was converted to a Cathedral in the […]
Stop 10: Seville was amazing. I had no idea how much I would see there. In fact, the Alcazar is so incredible that I have separated the pictures into a separate portfolio from the rest of Seville. A compact city, Seville appears to be a bigger city than it is. In the Centro, around the […]
Stop 11: You will see photos of the following: Plaza del Triunfo Mudejar palace, the official residence of the king and queen when they’re in town, built by Pedro I (1350– 69) on the site of Seville’s former Moorish alcázar (fortress). We were not allowed to take photographs, but I will say that it was […]
Stop #9: Mérida was one of the biggest surprises of this trip. I never imagined that I’d be walking through Roman ruins of this magnitude in the middle of Spain! Mérida was founded by the Romans in 25 BC and called Augusta Emerita. It was the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania and located […]
Stop #8: Caceres was a highlight for me. I immediately fell in love with all the old buildings in the square…well after a little mishap. OK, I’m not always the best navigator, but this was the worst I’ve ever done. Especially when my offline map on Google Maps switched to pedestrian maps instead of driving […]
Stop 6: The area of Vila Viçosa has been inhabited since antiquity and was a small Roman settlement. It was part of the Visogoth Kingdom and came under Moorish control. In 1217, Moorish domination ended with reconquest by Christians. In the early 14th century, a castle was constructed in the village to protect it from […]
Stop #5: Between Lisbon and Mérida, Spain is a town called Estremoz, a site of strategic importance since Roman times. It has a castle that overlooks the town. And I did get some pictures of the cutest elderly Portuguese lady I ever did see. 🙂 The pousada was also really impressive. Thanks to Fodor’s Travel […]
Stop#4: At the very top of the hilltop village of Evoramonte is a pretty massive fortress. At first, I said that we shouldn’t bother because it looked like a concrete building. But then I later realized that this building was first founded in 1160 and rebuilt after a 1531 earthquake. Oops! The knotted rope sculpture […]