Andalucia’s Gypsy Soul
The gypsy heart has been molded by three continents
On a warm night in southern Spain, across the street from an 8th century Moorish mosque housing a 15th century Catholic cathedral, a guitarist plays a sad melody. A seated man in black claps and sings a slow tune, its syncopation unfamiliar to Western ears, and the crowd stills in anticipation. When the lithe dancer dressed in tight equestrian wear walks onstage, she arches her wrists into the moonlight and begins to gently undulate her entire body to the singer’s rhythmic clapping. This is Flamenco, the gypsy dance influenced by centuries of Muslim, Catholic, Indian, Jewish, Greek and African migration around the Mediterranean into Andalucia—Spain’s iconic heartland.
The dance represents the somewhat melancholy soul of Seville, Granada and Cordoba. Beginning with Moorish settlement in 711, the three cities comprised a region collectively regarded for almost 800 years as the “gem of the world” for their tolerance of disparate races and religions, resulting in prolific wealth and architectural beauty not seen in Europe since the Roman empire. That ended in earnest with the Spanish Inquisition. Today, they represent the Western world’s most poetic history lesson, and a beatific vision of different cultures living together in harmony.
THE OLD CAPITAL
Once the seat of the Spanish crown, Seville is the stuff of romantic opera from Bizet’s Carmen to Mozart’s Figaro. Intertwined around the Guadalquivir River where Columbus first set sail for the New World, the city is the main entry point into the region via hi-speed rail or short flights from Madrid. The historic town and UNESCO World Heritage site extends outwards from the Giralda tower that caps off the world’s largest gothic cathedral, which was built on top of a 12th century mosque following the Christian conquest. Next door, a duo of Moorish and Catholic royal palaces and botanical gardens humble the visitor with their sheer scale and endless, intricate tilework.
Following the requisite tours, clients should skip the touristy horse carriage rides and venture into the Jewish Quarter, a labyrinth of narrow streets inundated with charming cafes and tiny landscaped gardens perfect for quiet interludes. This is the best base camp from which to explore Seville because of its accessible location to the river and cathedral, and the profound historic preservation of centuries-old buildings housing everything from elegant ceramic tile stores to local butchers. One highlight is the Aire de Sevilla—an ancient Arab bathhouse that’s been restored inside a 16th century palace. Visitors don swimsuits and walk through the traditional ritual of hot, cold and warm saunas and baths before retiring to the rooftop patio for tea. airedesevilla.com
A short walk from the Quarter, the new Museum of Flamenco opened this spring in a state-of-the-art facility combining hi-tech imagery and historic artifacts for a positively intoxicating look into the origins and meaning of the dance. This is an absolute must before taking in one of the many nightly performances around town. It’s a good idea to make reservations online for clients at popular places like Casa Carmen Arte Flamenco near the river and Tablao Flamenco Los Gallos in the Jewish Quarter.
“Flamenco is so much more than singing and dancing,” says Dr. Kurt Grötsch, director. “It’s part of the Andalucian identity, very fluid and full of passion and sensuality.”
Sometimes you chance upon a hotel that evokes the same spirit of the destination itself, thus adding to the entire vacation experience exponentially. Albeit, in an entirely different manner than, say, for guests about 500 years ago. When Columbus returned from his first voyage with American natives in tow, they were initially housed in what is now Casas de la Juderia, a charming medium-size hotel with an overtly intimate ambiance in the heart of the Jewish Quarter. The 105 guestrooms, designed with replica antique furnishings and modern bathrooms with hydromassage showers, wrap around a series of open courtyards brimming with orange trees, poincianas, water fountains and clay pottery, around the ornately tiled grand salon.
ROUTE OF THE CALIPHS
In Medieval times, the ruler of the Moors (Muslims who occupied Spain) was known as the Caliph. The original Caliph and his followers first settled in Cordoba which would become the leading center for arts and sciences in Europe by the 11 century. The most striking legacy of this is the Great Mosque of Cordoba, encompassing over 1,000 columns supporting ribboned arches constructed of jasper, onyx, marble and granite. Standing inside, one immediately understands why it took two centuries to build.
While Cordoba represents the birth of the Moorish golden age, the city of Granada symbolizes the end of eight centuries in power. The main draw is of course the majestic citadel La Alhambra, one of Europe’s most prized architectural sites often referred to as “an explosion in imagination.” The clifftop city, fortifications and palace were the last bastion of centralized Arabian society in Europe, celebrated with an artistic crescendo unsurpassed in its grandeur and detailed stone carvings found throughout the compound and adjacent gardens.
The draw of Granada is by no ways limited to the Alhambra, however. The lower historic city is anchored by the open market stalls selling spices and silks in the Muslim Quarter next to the cathedral and mosque. Surrounding them, a host of quiet, romantic hideaways like el Bodega Bella y la Bestia (beauty and the beast bar) are perfect for a glass of rioja or sangria to escape the mid-day sun. And when evening approaches, many tourists and locals alike congregate around calle calderia nuevo, the inlaid stone street leading up into the foothills surrounding the city. Recommend clients visit a salon de te (tea bar) at night here with a friend or loved one when the lights of Alhambra cast their ephemeral glow over the city.
Cordoba and Granada bookend the officially designated Route of the Caliphs, a 110-mile journey through Spain’s southern sierras and two mountain ranges. Meanwhile, the Route of Washington Irving stretches from Seville to Granada. Both trails are inundated with smaller villages where escorted travelers can stop and walk among the leafy squares in search of that one perfect cantina. And even if groups spend their entire trip in Seville, recommend they do at least one day trip to Carmona, about a 1/2 hour east to experience Andalucia without the traffic and crowds.
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