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HISTORY OF BIG SUR COAST

  A new dawn:              Locals had long called for a road along the coast to aid shipwreck victims and improve access to isolated communities.  Construction started in 1919, and 18 years, 32 tonnes of dynamite and 33 bridges later, the Big Sur stretch of California Highway One was complete.               The implausible route, with its myriad twists and turns and dramatic drop-offs, became an instant classic.  The author and painter Henry Miller fled to Big Sur in 1944 and stayed for nearly two decades.  Photographer Edward Weston and Beat Generation bard Jack Kerouac fell under its spell.  By the late 1960’s San Francisco’s counterculture revolution had swept down to Big Sur, and the likes of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell performed on the cliff tops.              ...
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ALHAMBRA

 

ALHAMBRA:


                         Behind the dazzling beauty of the Alhambra in Andalucia lies the complex and fascinating story of the Moorish empire in Spain and the finest surviving medieval Muslim palace in western Europe.

                      The last stronghold of the Moors in southern Spain towers above the modern city of Granada, with the red mountain of the Sierra Nevada rising behind.  A Moorish citadel has stood on the site since the 9th century, but the surviving palace complex was begun in the mid-13th century by Muhammad ibn Nasr, first sultan of the Nasrid Dynasty .  The Alhambra story is entwined with that of the Nasrid sultans, the last Muslim Dynasty to rule in Spain.  In 1237, Muhammad ibn Nasr ibn al-Ahmar, the founder of the Nasrid Dynasty, located his capital in Granada.  Muhammad was seeking refuge from the Reconquista, the campaign of Spanish Catholics to take back power in Spain.  The location offered good access to the coast further south and was protected by mountainous terrain to the north.  This defence was vital, since across the northern borders were the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.  In 1246. Muhammad  made a strategic truce with his Castilian neighbours that allowed the Nasrids to maintain their borders and religious freedom in return for submission to Castile as overloads.  The peace and stability that resulted from this treaty lasted for 250 years, allowing Granadian culture to flourish.

 

WHERE ON EARTH

                      The Alhambra overlooks the city of Granada, in the Spanish region of Andalucia.  The Palace complex is accessible by foot (up the steep hill), local bus or by car.  Entrance tickets, and tours of the palaces and gardens, are best booked in advance for either a morning, afternoon or evening session.

Location: Calle Real de la Alhambra, s/n, 18009 Granada, Spain

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