Ibn Battutah is known for traveling around most of the known world back in the 14th century, but perhaps the least well known part of his travels was his sojourn here in Spain. Even still, in his Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Traveling, he paints one of the most complete account we have of the world at the time.
After returning to Morocco from far off China, he quickly got itchy feet and crossed over to Europe with the idea of joining the Jihad against the Christian reconquest. Things weren't going that well for the Muslim armies on the peninsula and this might explain his unusual brevity in describing this part of the trip, but even still anecdotes abound.
The good people over at Trazzler have commissioned me to follow his tracks here in Spain in another 10 part series of trips.
-First stop, his beginning in Tangier
-Second, the assault on Europe starts from Ceuta
-Third, back on the European continent once again in Gibraltar
-Fourth, take a break from the concrete coasts in Ronda
-Fifth, it's actually much nicer than you think in Marbella
-Sixth, hiding out from pirates in Fuengirola
-Seventh, sweet..sweet wine in Malaga
-Eighth, heading to Granada the old fashioned way in Velez Malaga
-Ninth, trust a retired supreme court judge to block your visit to the hot springs in Alhama de Granada, almost that is.
-Tenth, last stop a night in the Corral del Carbon in Granada
No comments:
Post a Comment