Submitted by Shannon Rodriguez on the 2017 winter session program in Spain and Rome sponsored by the Department of Political Science and International Relations…
For my second week abroad, we traveled to Granada. In Granada, we got to see and learn about several of the historic and cultural things the city had to offer. During our time there, we learned about “La Reconquista”, the period of time when the Catholic Spanish monarchs of Spain were fighting to take back power from the Muslims who were in control of the country at the time. La Reconquista ended with the Muslims turning over the keys to the city of Granada to the Spanish monarchs, making Granada to be the last city to be seized by the Catholics. Once Granada was taken over, Christianity quickly spread throughout the country and the nation was unified as one Christian empire. Although the country had been taken over by the Catholic monarchs, many Muslims still resided in the area leaving a strong Arabic influence to the city even still today. One of my favorite places in Granada was a small area called El Albacin. In this area, you can find a long strip of Middle Eastern restaurants and shops. This area is also home to a park that over looks the city and a viewpoint of the old Arabic castle called The Alhambra. The shops were so beautiful and made me feel as though I was no longer in Spain, but walking and shopping through the streets of Morocco.
