Extramadura to Andalucia

In the 16th century, tough men from Extremadura followed in the wake of Columbus to conquer lands in the New World--men like Cortés, Orellana, the Pizarro brothers, to name a few. Silver and gold sacked from the Americas sailed up the Guadalquivir River, to be offloaded at Sevilla's Torre de Oro. That wealth followed the Silver Route to Spain's northwest; churches and palaces in towns like Trujillo became monuments to the success of the conquistadors in their rapacious march across the Americas.

Long before, the Romans had colonized Extremadura, with great centers of culture in towns like Mérida, where theaters, palaces, temples and extraordinary mosaics can still be seen. Centuries after the Romans, Arabs from the Damascus Caliphate conquered Iberia. In the early centuries of their occupation, three cultures lived harmoniously on the peninsula--Christian, Muslim, Jewish. Testimony to this past endures in the remains of great mosques, synagogues and medinas, irrigated gardens and patios, and Berber-style villages in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada.  Córdoba came to rival Damascus as the greatest center of Muslim culture in the world.  Granada was considered an earthly paradise by Boabdil, the last Moorish ruler to inhabit the hilltop palaces of the Alhambra. 

Today's traveler benefits from Boabdil's passion for cool secluded patios and irrigated gardens while strolling through the Alhambra grounds and the Generalife Gardens of Granada. Though the Moors were expelled by the Christian armies in their wars of Reconquest in the Middle Ages, the Arabian thoroughbred stayed behind, to mix its bloodlines with the Iberian horse, today on show in Jerez, at the  School of Equestrian Art.  A thousand years ago, Arab farmers planted vineyards, olive and fig trees on the gently sloping terrain around Jerez;  the chalky soil and unique climactic conditions of the region gave rise to the very distinctive wine known as sherry, or jerez. 

Today's Jerez is a prosperous center for the wine trade. Our final stop is Sevilla which preserves many of the elements of the Three Cultures of Andalucia--in its Mosque/Cathedral, Minaret/Giralda, labyrinth of medieval streets and patios, palaces and gardens. The Old Tobacco Factory, now university, reminds us that Carmen once rolled cigars here; house grilles recall Don Juan's adventures in these streets; light and shadow, tropical vegetation and the slow, muddy Guadalquivir River suggest a Zurbarán painting.
 

Private escorted tours and custom affinity tours are also available to all destinations. Customized packages include airfare, car rental, train vouchers, hotels, villa and apartment rentals.