SAMPLE ROUTES:

1. An Introduction to al-Andalus:'Express5 night'

2. Within the heart of al-Andalus:'7night tour':

3. A tour of al-Magreb, Morocco, a 5 night tour:

4. A tour of al-Andalus and al-Maghreb, a 12 night tour:

Al-Maghreb: Morocco.

• Optional tour extension to Ouarzazate, Merzouga with a night in the desert.

ABOUT US:

• OUR APPROACH TO THE HISTORY OF AL-ANDALUS:

• An encounter with the historical paradoxes in Muslim Spain. An exclusive insight from the very first generation of Spanish Muslims since the fall of al-Andalus, seeking for an unbiased and objective historical picture of al-Andalus. Based upon the official historical version and further researches from independent and unbiased professors and experts on the matter we have produced this virtual'IndependentTraveller Guide from Spain to al-Andalus' summarising the main points which will lead you to a complete comprehension of the Islamic period in Spain and the specific importance of the cities and sites visited along our tours. While our physical tours count with a specialist tour conductor from our organization and local official guides for monuments in the different towns, our virtual tour contents is developed by the same team of specialists and guides, just that you can take it independently.

• Al-Andalus was in it's time the most vigorous source of culture in Europe.To a great degree the civilization of al-Andalus was the result of the mutual influences between Christians, Jews and Muslims.

• The print of al-Andalus is present today in many customs, as well as in architecture and romance languages, specially Castillian or regular Spanish language. We are going to take a journey in the past, to go into the cities, walk the streets, enter the homes to understand how the Hispano-Muslim lived, studied, worked and enjoyed their time.

• For the sake of accuracy and objective questioning of what we may hear or know upon the subject, we present an exclusive insight into the history of Al-Andalus. You may find still today some mystery involved around the story of Islam in Spain. In fact, the greatest motivation in our work is to research and promote an unbiased historical view. We intend to continue our work until we have a well balanced equation and illustration of the History of Al-Andalus, though our Virtual Tour Guide application guide. Through participating on any of our tours or services whether it be independently on your own or a part of one of our guided tours, you will get a privileged insight coming from our very own team and select local specialists at each location in our tours.

• The historical study of al-Andalus reveals that the period was indeed one of the richest periods of a complex historical evolution, converting a great part of the Peninsula into a nation ahead of it's time, a centre of knowledge that shone across Europe and was a means to the scientific, literary and artistic phenomenon initiated in Italy in the XIV century called the Renaissance. More over, history reveals the transcendence that this long historical period had over Spanish culture, enriched by the diverse mix. The story of al-Andalus is that of a people that merged their blood, faith and ideas forming an extraordinary civilization, al-Andalus.

• On our tours in Andalusia, through the most diverse yet typical Spanish landscapes, you will be able to'readhistory' directly, having glimpses of places' past as we approach our destinations, the greatest cities of al-Andalus.

• However this history has traditionally been depreciated in Spain, due to a religious, cultural and racial rooted prejudice. Until no less then two decades ago, school books merely mentioned al-Andalus as a reflection of the so called'Reconquista'a series of battles spread over 800 years whereby the Kingdoms of Aragon, Navarra, Castilla and Leon steadily gained land over the'arabized'Spanish Muslim population of Al-Andalus.

• Al-Andalus has been presented for centuries as a Spanish territory occupied over centuries by foreigners. However, we must never forget that the base of the population in al-Andalus was Muslim of a Hispano-Gothic origin. There was in any case a very diluted component of Arab origin profoundly integrated into the peninsular population. The inhabitants of al-Andalus where Spanish all the way, although of Muslim faith, as where others who professed the Jewish religion.

• Except for specialized historians, no one has taken the trouble to investigate how the Andalusi civilization was, from the other side of the Christian-western border. A country that spoke other languages, had other customs, thought, dressed and behaved differently.

• Still today when we mention the expulsion of the last Moriscos, one century after the period of the Reconquista was over, we tend to do so as if there where strange people or foreigners. But people who have lived together for centuries leave their own print which cannot be erased.

• The mystery surrounding the introduction of Islam in Spain can further be seen in new theories of modern, free thinking investigators like Ignacio Olagüe or Emilio Gonzalez Ferrín. After thorough research through the remaining historical and geological documentation of the era, these historians maintain that the Spanish Inquisition has hidden and re-written more than the modern'officialhistorians' would like to admit. Ignacio Olgagüe even sustains through research into the Church's historical archives and the above mentioned Councils of the 4th-7thCentury, that no Arabs ever'invaded'Spain! Both follow that it would actually be an Arian Christian(Monotheist)movement of defence against the Roman Catholic(Trinitarian)armed repression of the Bishops and Monarchs, who had been allied to Roman military force since the Council of Nice 400 E.C.

• There was, indeed, a diluted component of Arab origin integrated into the peninsular population since the legendary entry of Tariq Ibn Sayeed, in 711 E.C. Later, in 750 E.C., the Arabian influence was reinforced by the arrival of the last member of the Syrian Ummayad Dynasty to Spain, Abdul Rahman IbnQuraish, the first ruler to unite the peninsula under Muslim rule. It was only by 900-950 E.C. that Islam took over the entire Iberian Peninsula. In about 250 years, over 75% of the population converted to the faith. It is well known to most specialists that though the inhabitants of Al-Andalus were inherently Spanish Iberians, they were to be mostly older forms of Unitarian Christian faiths and Jews, to become a majority of Muslim over many generations. Ruled by the Ummayad Dynasty of Al-Andalus(750-1029E.C.), the coexistence of the three faiths was to be a leading exemple of true civilization and, later, the concept for Monarchic democracy, freedom of faith and spirituality, which was in fact simply the trend for human development as a whole and would create a revolution that swept through all aspects of life and knowledge, to give way to the modern world and set the foundations of most of today’s technology.

• This insight intoAndalusian history is far from wide spread. In these circumstances, and in the usual context where the civilization of al-Andalus is most commonly found it is difficult to understand and easily or evilly misunderstood.

A tour of al-Andalus and al-Maghreb, a 12 night tour:

• Optional tour extension to Ouarzazate, Merzouga with a night in the desert.

Ruta 1. Ceutí

Ruta 1. Murcia

• Promotional blog post article to our web & blogs.
• Calendar report and schedule.
• Creative & logistic support
• Public, sponsored or private venue arrangemetns.
• Active marketing, promotional support.
• Payment gateways & legal support.

• Países del Islam Tradicional: Barakaholidays.com (agency offer) +A.E communication networks

• Marruecos. - slogan??
• Marruecos Norte- 3 noches – tema pendiente
• Marruecos Imperial – 7 noches – tema pendiente
• Marruecos Exótico – 7 noches – tema pendiente
• Marruecos 4×4 Adventure – 5 noches – tema pendiente
• Marruecos Business – 7 noches – tema pendiente

• Turquía. - slogan??? (?)
• El Islam en Turquía – 7 noches – tema pendiente

• Uzbequstán. - slogan??? (? – hablar con abdul Rahim de Órgiva???)(?)
• El Islam en Uzbequistan – 7 noches – tema pendiente

• Meccah - ‘The Heart of Islam’ (? – hablar con la puebla???)
• Meccah & Medinat Visit - 5 noches – tema pendiente

• Meccah & Medinat Visit – 7 noches – tema pendiente
• Organised Umrah trip Visit – 7 noches – tema pendiente
• Organized Hajj trip – 7 noches – tema pendiente

>BCN BARCELONA OPTIONS

>MOROCCO

>MOROCCO

A tour of al-Andalus and al-Maghreb, a 12 night tour:

• Optional tour extension to Ouarzazate, Merzouga with a night in the desert.