Al-Andalus — Islamic Spain
Discover Al-Andalus — medieval Islamic Spain, where Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities created one of history's most remarkable cultural exchanges.
Al-Andalus — the Arabic name for Islamic Iberia — was one of medieval Europe's most extraordinary cultural experiments. Beginning with the Umayyad conquest of 711 CE and lasting in some form until the fall of Granada in 1492, Al-Andalus was a place where Islamic, Christian, and Jewish traditions coexisted, collided, and cross-pollinated in ways unique in the medieval world.
The jewel of Al-Andalus was Córdoba, which by the 10th century rivaled Baghdad and Constantinople as one of the world's great cities. Its population may have reached 500,000 — far larger than any city in Christian Europe. The Great Mosque of Córdoba, the royal palace of Medina Azahara, and the city's extensive libraries, public baths, and paved, illuminated streets testified to a sophistication that astonished European visitors.
The concept of convivencia — "living together" — captures both the reality and the ideal of Al-Andalus. The three faiths were not equal; Muslims held political power, and relations were often tense. But the degree of cultural exchange was genuine and productive. Jewish scholars wrote philosophy in Arabic. Christian monks copied Arabic scientific texts. Translation schools in Toledo made Greek and Arabic learning accessible to Latin Europe, helping ignite the intellectual revolution that would become the Renaissance.