La Rutina Diaria: Introduction

Spain has a long and interesting history that includes Roman domination. Though they were not the first to rule this area of Europe, they definitely made a tremendous impact during their occupation that lasted six centuries. After Rome fell, other groups made their mark as well but perhaps none made such an impact as the Arabs who came in the eighth century A.D.

These Roman ruins are in Sagunto, Spain, a small village on the Mediterranean coast in the province of Valencia.

Spain enjoyed great prosperity during the time of Arab domination, which ended late in the 15th century when the Catholic royalty made plans to expel the Moors from Spain. The Moors, however, left their mark on Spain in various forms. Many words that the Spanish language uses are actually derivatives from Arabic, and there are many architectural treasures in cities in Spain that are from the time period that the Moors were in Spain. The picture that you see below is the Alhambra in Granada, a city that was under Moorish domination for a lengthy period of time. This is an example of typical Moorish architecture, some of which was built in the ninth century. The city of Granada was the last city still under Moorish domination by the thirteenth century. The other cities which had been occupied by the Moors up until that time had already fallen to the Christians. Because the Moors shared allegiance with King Ferdinand III, they continued in Granada and had a prosperous independence until 1492 when King Ferdinand of Aragón recaptured Granada, bringing it again under Christian rule.