Buenas tardes, Damas y Caballeros.
As many people know, almost the entire Iberian Peninsula once belonged to the Arab conquerors.
On the one hand, yes, it's bad. On the other hand, the Muslims also gave a lot of positive things to the peninsula and had a strong influence on Spain.
In this post, I will try to look at exactly how the Arabs influenced Spain in various fields. I hope it will be interesting!
Spain is a wonderful European country.
First, let's start with a small excursion into the even more distant past. How did Spain and Portugal end up under the Arabs in the first place?
For a long time, the territory of Spain was dotted with Phoenician, Greek, and then Carthaginian colonies. Thus, by the 5th century BC, Carthage owned almost all the Pyrenees.
However, after the Second Punic War, the Carthaginians lost Spain and the era of Roman rule in these lands began. It must be said that the peninsula did not obey immediately, however, by the beginning of our era, all the local tribes surrendered and the Roman government finally strengthened.
As part of the Roman Empire, Spain was one of the most prosperous provinces. It was one of the centers of culture and gave the Empire such people as Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian, Seneca, etc.
Trade flourished, industry and agriculture were at a high level of development, and the population was very numerous.
Everything changed with the collapse of the Roman Empire. The entire territory of the peninsula was occupied by Germanic tribes, who founded several "barbarian kingdoms".
And just at this time, Islam was emerging and entering its golden age.
At the beginning of the 8th century, detachments of Arabs and Berbers landed in Iberia and defeated the local states in an extremely short time, leaving only a handful of Christians in the north. Muslims will be beaten back only at the end of the XV century.
Spain was one of the most important parts of the Roman Empire.
Well, we can say that the story is really sad. However, Muslims have also brought a lot of good things to Spain. Let's start with architecture.
The further you move to the south of the Pyrenees, the more interesting the architectural tradition becomes. So, in Andalusia (the province in the south is the center of Islamic culture in Spain) it is so unusual that it has given rise to several directions at once.
The Moorish style developed on Spanish soil under the influence of Berber architecture throughout the Muslim rule. The most important monuments of Moorish architecture include the Alhambra Palace in Granada.
The Alhambra is an extremely majestic structure.
Over time, a mixture of Arabic and Spanish cultures has developed. This is how the Mudekhar style appears.
Mudekhar is characterized by a horseshoe—shaped arch, pointed wooden ceilings, bright tiles and flour arches resembling honeycombs.
Even after the expulsion of the Arabs, this style still caught on among the Spanish spiritual and secular nobility, as it perfectly combined luxury and comfort.
In addition to these styles, classical Moorish architecture also spread, which also soon mixed with Spanish culture.
Mudekhar style.
Spanish cuisine is one of the most vibrant in Europe. Although important dishes vary from region to region, they have all been influenced by Muslim culture, primarily Berber.
It was thanks to the Muslims and their discoveries in the field of crop cultivation that oranges, chickpeas, coffee and sugar appeared in the Pyrenees.
Muslims also introduced names such as saffron, almonds, and, oddly enough, alcohol into Spanish cuisine. At first, drinks after strong distillation were used to make aromatic oils and essences. From them, the secret of stills passed to the Spanish alchemists, and then to the future creators of cognac.
Muslims have made sweet-sour and sweet-salty combinations of flavors traditional, established the order of the meal from appetizers, main course and dessert, and forever consolidated the importance of spices and sauces.
Paella is one of the main dishes of Spanish cuisine, has some Arabic origin.
The Spanish language in its modern form was formed on the basis of the Castilian dialect, which was spoken in central Spain in the XIII century. He absorbed the Germanic and Visigothic heritage and continued to actively replenish Arabic words.
According to experts, about 8% of Spanish vocabulary goes back to Arabic. These are mainly nouns, proper names and geographical names.
New words appeared to denote urban phenomena, inventions, scientific and military terms, and products.
At the same time, although there are quite a lot of borrowings from the Arabic language, he could not completely change Spanish.
Part of the painting in the Alhambra Palace in Granada.
It was by the end of the Reconquista, by the beginning of the XVI century, that the formation of the Spanish nation proper ended. Given that the Arabs had lived and contacted the local Arabs in these lands for the previous eight centuries, the Muslim "genes" could not go unnoticed.
Spanish girls.
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Muslims have been able to do many more things. So, they include the first flamenco motifs, the beginnings of ceramics and lustration, etc.
Even chess first got to Spain, and only then spread throughout Europe.
It can be concluded that although the period of Muslim rule in Spain can be called controversial, it was these conditions that largely created the Spain that we now know.
Thanks for your attention!
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