Iberian Peninsula:

Spain and Portugal

Islamic Iberian Peninsula
(1000 AD).

Spain and Portugal are different from other European countries. This region, called the Iberian Peninsula, is separated from France by the Pyrenees Mountains. Iberian cities were developed by Moslem Arabs during the period 600-1400 AD (after the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, and before the conquest by Christians).
Then the Catholic rulers conquered this area and pushed out all non-Catholic people, particularly Jews and Moslems. Jews from Spain are called Sephardic Jews or Hispanic Jews.
This process did not take place in one year, but it took 700 years from 800 AD to 1500. During this process, Moslems and Jews were pushed down to the South. Thus, the Islamic influence is strong in southern provinces in the region called Andalusia.
Cairo is still a strong Islamic city.
We all know how the Islamic religion was developed. This religion was used as a political ideology to be against the Byzantine rule coming from Constantinople (now called Istanbul). This Islamic ideology became very popular among Egyptians who were under the autocratic Byzantine suppression.
After gaining its strength in Egypt, the Islamic influence moved westward along the Mediterranean coast of north Africa, and then from Morocco to Spain across the Gibraltar strait. They then established their Islamic base at the place now called Cordoba, and ruled the entire area of the Iberian Pennisula (Spain and Portugal), until the Recoquista period which lasted from 1200 to 1500 AD.

Spain and Portugal

Since 1992, I have been to Spain four times and once to Portugal. I have been to Lisbon, Madrid, Salamanca, Toledo, Segovia, Barcelona, Granada, Seville, and Cordoba.

Let us start with

Lisbon (Portugal)

Do you know where Portugal is? Click here for the history and geography of this country. Portugal is a small country between Spain (east) and the Atlantic Ocean.
Before 1500 AD, this area was regarded as the western end of the world by Europeans. The world was flat! However, after Columbus, the Portuguese navigators made important contributions to finding the new world.
The language of Portugal is similar to Spanish but is different. Brazil is a big country in South America, and Brazilians speak Portuguese. This means that Portugal is an important country at least from the historical point of view.
In high-school history, we learn about the following two distinguished navigators.
1. Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) gets the credit as the first person to navigate around the globe.
2. Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) went to India by navigating around the African Continent.
The Belem Tower is the most popular spot for tourists in Portugal. It has a very interesting history.
1. I was there in 2019 and took a number of photos. I took this photo of the tower from a boat on the Tagaus River, which runs from Spain to the Atlantic Ocean.
2. Closer view of the tower.
3. There I met a group of cheergful French students. I am a professor, and I become happy wherever I meet students. I know how to talk to them.
Lisbon is a great harbor city at the entrance of the Tagus River which runs to the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. The city is a great harbor.
1. The city is beautiful hill viewed from the River.
2. The Tagus River seen from the hill top of Lisbon,
3. The harbor center is the center of the city. There are many shops and restaurants. Many interesting activities take place here.
4. These are the trolley cars for the people coming to and going from the the harbor center.
5. This harbor handles cargos ships coming from the Atlantic Ocean to the European continent.
6. This navy ship guards the harbor and guards the country.
One of the suspension bridges across the Tagus River. The statue of Jesus is seen.
1. Closer view of the bridge.
2. Decorated bottom of the bridge.
Lisbon has a long history with many interesting buildings and monuments.
1. This is the building for the main railway station.
2. Their main shopping mall is called the Vasco da Gama Center.
3. One of the creative-looking building. I do not know the name of this building.
4. One of the statues for their heros. I do not know his name, but Portugal has a long history. There were many heros who defended their country from invasions.
5. Decorated street walkway and pine trees.
Click here for more photos from the Wikipedia.

Madrid (Spain)

Main Railway Station in Madrid.
1. The interiorof the station.
2. Wide plaza in front of the station building.
Statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza at the Plaza Espania. The author of this story is sitting in the background.
1. Miguel Cervantes was the author of this story.
2. I was there in 1992, and I had a photo with a Spanish lady with her baby.
The Egyptian Temple of Debod is in Madrid. Why Madrid? Why not in Egypt? Click here for the story.
Las Ventas is Spain's largest bull-fighting ring, but is only the third largest ring in the world. Two larger rings are in Mexico and Venezuela.
1. I was there in 1992. However, it was more comfortable to watch the bull fightings on TV screen while drinking and relaxing at a coffee house in Madrid.
2. Here is another bull-fighting scene, with spectators in the ring.
3. Click here for the history of this place.
In addition to bull fighting, Spain is known for flamenco dancing. There are many flamenco theaters and flamenco clubs in Madrid. Let us look at photos of those dancers.
1. Five female dancers.
2. Single dancer and guitarists.
Picasso Plaza. I went there to see the art works by Picasso. However, there were none of them. It is a shiny resting place at Madrid's financial district with shiny bank buildings. The place was called "Plaza de Azca." but the politicians decided to borrow the big name of Picasso. Here is the Wikipedia page for the Picasso plaza without his paintings.
Neptune Fountain near the Prado Museum.
1. Viewed from a different direction.
2. I was there in 1992.
There are many important places in Madrid.
1. Their city hall is glamorous, and viewed from different direction.
2. Statue of Columbus. Columbus was an Italian navigator, and he was not from Madrid, but Spaniards are proud of him everywhere in Spain. Italian Peninsula was a province of Spain at the time of Columbus.
3. Shiny subway train and inside the train.
4. Korean cars. Kia and Hyundai in Madrid. I become very happy whenever I spot Korean products in Europe, Russia, and USA.
Prado Museum in Madrid is one of the major art museums in the world. I was there in 1992, 2001, and in 2019. The museum became 200 years old in 20019.
We are not allowed to take photos inside the exhibition halls, but you can see most of the important items from the for the Museum.
However, this restriction did not seem to apply in the entrance lobby.
1. Here is a photo of myself in the main lobby in 1992.
2. Another photo. These photos prove that I was there.
3. In 2001, I was there again and took photos of the museum building and its environment. Unfortunately, my camera was stolen in Madrid.
In 2019, I took a number of photos of the museum environment.
1. Francesco Goya's statue is facing the northern entrance of the Museum building. Who was Goya?
2. At the western entrance is a statue of Diego Velázquez. However, this entrance is not open to the visitors. The museum visitors enter the building through the northern door. The ticket office is there, and the ticket line is very long as you can see from this photo.
Click here for more Madrid photos from the Wikpdia.

Barcelona

Plaza Espana.
1. Two Venetian towers.
2. Between these two towers, the National Museum of Catalunian Arts is seen. The museum building is impressive.
3. Click here for the Museum webpage.
Harbor of Barcelonia. This Mediterranean harbor is very close to France. A very busy place.
1. Two floating statues.
2. What is the D-shaped building? Click here.
There are many sports stadiums in Barcelona. Spaniards in this region (Catalunia) seem to believe in sports. Juan Antonio Samranch (1920-2010) was a legenday figure, and he came from Barcelona. He was the president of the International Olympic Committee for 21 years from 1980 to 2001.
1. Look at this stylish antenna for one of their sports in-door arenas. Click here for the arena.
2. The 1992 Olympic Summer Games were held in Barcelona. This is the main stadium for the games.
3. Campu Nou, the largest sports stadium in the world.
Statue of Columbus seen from the town center for shopping and dining.
1. Closer to the satature, and the top of the stature.
2. Dining places at the center.
3. Souvenir from the old Islamic years at one of the dining places.
Sagreta Familia is also known as the Gowdy Catheral. This cathedal was desinged by an Spanish (Catalan architect named "Antoni Gowdy" (1852-1926). The construction of this building started in 1882, and is still continuing. I was there in 2018 and took photos.
1. The building is too big to put into the cameara lense at a close distance.
2. Crowded entrance to the building.
3. Top of the cathedral seen from the ground
4. Top of the cathedral. Professional-quality photo.
5. Entrance wall of the building.
6. Chapel inside the cathedral.
7. Ceiling of the chapel.
Go to the Wikipedia for more photos from Barcelona.

Toledo, Salamanca, and Segovia

Toledo
1. Catholic Church seen from the south side of the Tagus River which runs from the eastern Spain to the Atlantic Ocean.
2. Alcazar seen from the same place. The Tagus River is seen.
3. I met this student from Briain there, and I had this photo with her. Both the church and Alcazar are in ths photo.
4. I had a lunch with my wife at a restaurant seen at the upper-right corner of this photo. The Roman Bridge across the Tagus River. I assume this beidge was initially built by Romana many years ago.
5. Go to the Wikipedia page for more photos from Toledo.
Salamanca
1. New cathedral of Salamaca.
2. Peaceful street and Peaceful town square.
3. Damaged statue of bull.
4. Two students from the Netherlands in front of the statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Pancha. I had a photo with one of them.
5. Roman bridge across the Tormes River. The Roman bridge is in every city in Spain.
6. Go to the Wipedia page for more photos from Salamanka.
Segovia. In 2001, I went to Segovia, but my camera containing films for this area was stolen while in Spain. However, we can see photos from this interesting city from the Wikipedia.

Cordoba

Rebuilt columns on the Roman ruins. This Spanish student was nice enough to pose with me.

Panoramic view of Cordoba.

Indeed, along with Cairo and Baghdad, Cordoba became one of the three major Islamic cities in the world. Those Islamic people built a huge mosque. This mosque later became a Catholic church. Let us look at the photos from the church which was originally built as an Islamic Mosque.
These Roman ruins show that Cordoba was first developed first by Romans. One Spanish student was nice enough to pose with me in this photo. This Andalusian area produced olive oils so essential to Roman life. Roman Emperor Hadrian had his family base in this area.
This area became chaotic after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Then the Islamic people came to establish their civilization from 700 AD. By 1000 AD, the city of Cordoba became like this.
The bridge seen in this photo was originally built by Romans, but it was rebuilt several times since then. The fortification and the Cathedral (formally Mosque) were built by Islamic Arabs. This is a telescopic view of this Mosque-Cathedral.

Islamic-style outside walls.

Islamic columns and arches inside the Mosque-Cathedral
Let us look at photos from this Mosque-Cathedral.
1. The Mosque-Cathedral seen from the sky.
2. Outside walls clearly show that this cathedral was built by Moslems.
3. This is one of the entrances to the Mosque-Cathedral complex in Islamic style.
The interior of this Mosque-Cathedral is the gem of the Moslem civilization.
1. There are thousands of columns arches, and more columns, and more arches.
2. Let us look at the columns carefully. They look like Greek columns. Indeed, this Mosque-Cathedral, as its treasures, kept a number of the original Greek items, such as the Ionic column, and the Greek engravings like this placed above the stone with Islamic decorations.
Catholic worship place and books of the Bible.
During the period 1200-1500, the Catholic influence became strong, and those intolerant Catholic rulers pushed out all non-Catholics (Moslems and Jews) from the territory of Spain. Those Catholics converted this structure to their worship place. These days, this building is used as a Catholic cathedral.
1. There are a number of Christian worship places inside the Cathedral. This is the largest of them.
2. This is one of the church organs. There is another organ like this on the opposite side the hall.
3. On those days, the Bible was a very exclusive item, and only the privileged priests could read the book. Those bibles are displayed in this glass case.
4. In order to reduce the Islamic scenes on the outside Cathedral walls, Catholics set up their altars.
Turkish lawyer in the Cordoba Mosque-Cathedral.

Electrical engineers from Kuwait.

One of them wanted to have a solo photo with me.
These days, quite understandably, Moslems in Spain demand a place for their worship inside this structure, but the Spanish church says No. In my opinion, they should be granted a place. In either case, there are many Moslem visitors to this Mosque-Cathedral. It is difficult to detect Moslem men, but it is easy to spot Moslem women from their costume. Most of them wear hijabs on their heads.
1. Inside the Cathedral, I met this Turkish lawyer. I told her I have been to her country many times. While talking, I asked her whether she is married. She said she could not find any man smarter than she is. I then asked her whether I sound smart enough for her. She said YES, but said “You are too old for me.” I told her I am 200 years old. She studied in Amsterdam. A brilliant Moslem lady.
2. Just outside the Cathedral, I met a group of electrical engineers from Kuwait. It was a pleasure for me to talk with those hijab-wearing Moslem scientists. We exchanged some words on electricity and magnetism.
  After this photo,I went into an ice-cream shop. I was thirsty.
3. One of those ladies came to me, and asked me to have a solo photo with me. She had her camera, and I had mine. According to her religious ethics, she was not allowed to touch a man, and I was also careful. Yet she was as close to me as she could. She is a Moslem lady, but she is also a human being. As a woman, she had a desire to own a man. No religion can suppress this aspect of humanity.
Statue of Maimonides in the front yard of his house (reconstructed).

Jewish souvenir shop near the statue.
Unlike these days, Arabs were very friendly to Jews during the Medieval ages. When they moved to Spain, many Jews went with them. Those Jews established their own community in Cordoba. Jews in Cordoba were quite active in their intellectual activities. They wrote many books and created artistic objects.
Among the those Jewish scholars, the wise man known as known as Maimonides was widely respected among the Jews. He was born in Cordoba (1138) and died in Egypt (1204), but he was buried in Tiberias (Israel).
Maimonides was educated as a medical doctor and was able to cure many sick people. He wrote many books on philosophy on Jewish religion. Thus, he became the intellectual and moral leaders among the Jewish people spread around the world.
There is an old Jewish quarter not far from the Mosque-Cathedral, with
1. Statue of Maimonides at the front yard of his house. Close-up view of his statue.
2. Gift shop selling Jewish stuff.
3. Maimonides plaza. and Hotel Maimonides.
4. Everything in this area is named after Maimonides, but notably absent are Jewish Synagogues (worship places). What happened to them? Jews were expelled from Spain in two phases.
  
  Jewish Synagogue in Prague (Czech Republic) built by Jews from Spain, looking like an Islamic mosque.
5. After the reign of Queen Isabella (1474-1504), Spain became a strong Catholic country, and all non-Catholics (Moslems and Jews) were ordered to leave the country. Jews were allowed to stay if they converted themselves to become Catholics. Those Jews who refused to convert went to Greek islands and then to Central Europe, as this map shows.
6. After 1700 AD, the Catholic rulers became more intolerant, and all the Jews (converted or otherwise) had ordered to leave Spain. Most of them moved to the Netherlands.
7. During this expulsion process, all the Jewish synagogues in Spain were destroyed. Some Spanish Jews who went to Hungary and Austria went to the area known today as Czech Republic. They built their synagogue in Prague. Let us look at this Spanish Synagogue. It looks like an Islamic mosque. This proves that Jews in Spain shared the same culture with Arabs, with a different religion.
Many people left Cordoba. Who are there now? The city is filled with hard-working and fun-loving Spanish citizens. There are also many visitors.
1. This Spanish lady is walking with her children. A nice scene.
2. There are many orange trees along the streets.
3. Treed streets, not seen in other cities.
4. Statue of Columbus at the Columbus Plaza.
5. Nuns on the street.
6. Boys meet girls. In this photo, one boy is with his sister and three female cousins. I joined them to improve the gender balance.
7. Dinner time is fun time for everybody.
8. Paella cafes everywhere. Paella is Spanish rice with chicken or other meat or sea food.
9. Supermarket for daily needs.
10. Korean-made car, and another Korean car on the same street.
11. Antique cash register still operational at one of the restaurants.

Seville

We do not hear too often about this city, but we heard about Christopher Columbus and Opera Carmen with her tobacco factory.

Tomb of Columbus
in the Seville Cathedral.
1. Here is the tomb of Columbus inside the Seville Cathedral. Here is a photo of myself standing at the tomb site.
2. The Seville Cathedral is a the largest Gothic-style church building in the world. This Wikipedia page tells the history of this building. This place was developed as an Islamic mosque during the period of Islamic Spain.
3. After the conquest of Spain by Catholic Christians (1250 AD), this place became a Catholic church and became expanded. If you look at carefully, you can find some Arabic influences, such as this gate. The church decorations tell the bible stories, but their art works seem to have the Islamic details. Look at this and this.
Side view of Carmen's tobacco factory.
Carmen's tobacco factory is not a brick building. It is a huge complex of shiny stone buildings. It was Columbus who brought back tobacco from the American continents to Europe. This factory tells us how rich Spain became by refining tobacco leaves for European smokers.
1. This is a front view of this tobacco factory.
2. This is a side view.
3. This is an Opera Scene where Carmen sings her famous song "Habanera." Georges Bizet composed this opera in 1874. This tobacco factory building is at least three hundred years old. Thus, this tobacco factory is quite different from the impression you get from the opera "Carmen."
The city of Seville was developed as a botanic garden when there were no high-rise buildings, nor high ways 1000 years ago.
Another important fact is that this city was constructed by Arabs and Jews. We all know they were thrown out by Catholic rulers from Spain during the period 1500-1800.
However, in the Seville area, King Ferdinand III (1201-1252) was different from Queen Isabella (1451-1504). He kicked out Moslem Arabs, but let Jews develop their talents in Seville. He even invited Jews in other areas of Spain to Seville for the construction of the city of Seville. Those Jews were then thrown out during and after Isabella's rule.
Indeed, the core of the city of Seville including the king's palace was developed by talented Jews. Those Jews were expelled in two phases. During and after Isabella's rule (1600-1700), Jews were allowed to stay in Spain if they believed in Jesus. Later (1700-1800), they were thrown out even though they became Christians. Those Catholic rulers eradicated the Jewish

Jewish museum in Seville.

Jewish items shown in this museum.
These days. is there a place to indicate the Jewish presence in Seville. Yes, look at this wall. This wall contains all three of the Jewish, Arabic, and Catholic signs. I am not able to say wall was built, nor the purpose of the wall.
There is a small museum showing Jewish items. I went in and asked the museum curator some questions. From my questions, she realized I am a genuinely interested in Jewish history, and she waived the admission fee (about $18.00), even though it was affordable. There are a number interesting Jewish items.
1. Entrance to the Museum.
2. Jewish ceramics for cooking and dining purposes.
3. Ceramics plates showing Jewish faith.
4. Musical instruments.
5. Religious items.
Click here for a larger image.
However, the item most educational to me was this map. telling how Jews escaped from Spain.
In 2009, I was in Prague (Czech Republic) and noticed an Arab-style building. I asked these local students passing-by what that strange building is about. They said it is a synagogue built by Jews from Spain. I was not surprised at its Arab appearance because Jews went to Spain with Arabs. I was wondering how Spanish Jews came to eastern Europe.
Indeed this Jewish Museum in Seville displayed this map showing the routes of two phases of Jewish exodus from Spain during the period 1500-1800.

Islamic gate in the Seville Cathedral.
After pushing out all Jews and Moslems, Spanish Catholics converted the Moslem mosque to a Catholic church. It is the largest Gothic-style building in the world. This Wikipedia page. contains excellent photos of this place, but I can add some more. There are still Islamic influences.
1. This gate appears to be a left-over from the earlier Islamic mosque.
2. This alter is definitely for Catholic worships, but its detailed decorations are in Islamic style.
3. This Christian item is an Islamic artwork.
The Plaza de Espana was built in 1928 before the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). After Columbus (1451-1506), Spain became the strongest country in the world. However, the country became very weak later, and was ruled by a strong man named Francisco Franco. from 1939 to 1975.
I am not able to tell the history of Spain from from 1900 to 1933. Yet, the people of Spain had more than enough reason to celebrate the discovery of the American continent by Columbus 400-plus years earlier. They built this Plaza with combined Islamic, European, and Catholic traditions. I was not able to see American traditions.
This Wikipedia page contains many excellent photos of this plaza, but I could add some more.
1. The Plaza seen from its western entrance.
2. Two flamenco dancers near the entrance.
3. I was invited to dance with them, but I did not know how to dance. I look dumb in this photo.
4. Section of the plaza with the compartments for important cities of Spain, including
  - Madrid,
  - Leon,
  - Ovieda,
  - Pontevedra. Do you know where this city is? Click here.
  - These two Spanish ladies are from Pontevedra. They invited me to have a photo with them.

Granada

After Romans, Moslem Arabs came and remained in Spain until the 16th Century. Christians pushed those Moslems from the North, and Granada was the last Moslem city to fall to Christians.

Until then, Granada served as the last strong hold for those Moslem Arabs. The Moslem royal family had a castle/palace at the mountain top of the city. This palace is called Alhambra. I was fortunate enough to visit Granada in 2018 and took photos, I would like to some of them with you. Let us start with photos from the Alhambra.
1. The mount-top palace seen from Granada's town center.
2. There are many visitors to this place, and they have to wait in the ticket line to enter the Alhambra Palace.
3. as soon as you enter, you go through forest. as well as these tunnels, and tunnels like these.
4. Lotus ponds
5. Royal pools and fountains.
6. Islamic style of the royal court.
7. Islamic style walls in the royal court.
8. Garden with a fountain. Here is another garden.
9. City of Granada seen from the Alhambra Palace. Another view.
There are many interesting sites outside the Alhambra palace walls.
1. Winding road around the palace.
2. Fortress with Islamic windows. Here is another photo.
3. One of the brooks.
4. Water flowing out from the castle wall.
5. Here is something I did not understand. Water flows from higher to lower ground. There were many active fountains on the Alhambra palace ground at the top of the mountain. Where does the water come from?
The city of Granada consists of many Islamic-style and European bundlings.
1. This photo shows one Islamic bundling and one European building.
2. This European building was once served as the government of the Holy Roman Empire, when Charles V was the emperor, This is the courtyard of this building. Here is another photo.
The people of this city seem to be very happy. Spain is a strong Christian country. There are many church buildings like this.
1. People seem to enjoy extended lunch hours at their town center. Here is another photo.
2. Creative graffiti in the residential area.
3. This young lady performs a flamenco dance on the street.
Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus in Granada.
Spain produced a number of important people in history. Among them are Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus. As you know, Columbus was an Italian born in Genoa. However, at that time, Italy was not a unified country, and the port city of Genoa was under Spanish control.
Columbus was able to make his westward voyage to India only because he he was able to get supports from Queen Isabella. There are some interesting stories about these two important persons in history. The point is that Columbus got Isabella's blessing when Granada was Spain's capital city.
Spain's history is too complicated for me to explain in one webpage. If you like to know more about this Spanish city, you may go to this video by Rick Steves.

How did I talk to Einstein?

copyright@2020 by Y. S. Kim.
1. Click here for his home page.
2. His Einstein page.
3. His Princeton page.
4. His Style page.
I received my PhD degree from Princeton in 1961, seven years after high school graduation in 1954. This means that I did much of the ground work for this degree during my high school years. Click here for my high school page.