Moorish Wonders of the Guadalquivir & Guadiana

We wake up in Seville, the capital of Andalucia, which was once the ancient city of Hispalis and later became enormously wealthy for its crucial rule in the Trans-Atlantic trade.

Exclusive Andante excursion
Today we venture to Cordoba, one of the most important cultural centres in medieval Europe when the city was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate. We begin our exploration of its colourful remains with the world famous Mezquita, or Cathedral Mosque, erected in the 8th century. Built on the remains of Roman and possibly Visigothic buildings, the mosque was architecturally important and remained intact after it became a Catholic church dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady in the 13th century. Even after important enlargements in the 17th century, it retained its Islamic core. We continue to the city’s Jewish Quarter where we see vestiges of the multi-cultural medieval city when the city gave rise to such luminaries as Maimonides and Averroes. We end our visit of Cordoba with the Medina Azahara, the 10th century palace-city built in order to administer the capital.

Today our ship is moored in the vibrant city of Seville before it departs in the afternoon for the Isla Minima set in the Marshlands of the Guadalquivir. Here we have a tour of an Andalucian hacienda before we sail to Cadiz.

Exclusive Andante excursion
Today we visit two of Seville’s UNESCO listed sites, starting with the Real Alcazar, built in the 14th century as a palace fortress for Peter of Castille on the grounds of an earlier Abbadid alcazar and which is an important example of mudejar architecture, which is blending of Moorish and Europe styles. We continue a short distance to the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world built in order to signal the city’s increased importance after the reconquista.

This morning we are in Cadiz, the important port which lays claim to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe. Located on a spit of land surrounded by sea, Cadiz retains an old quarter which bears the remains of its ancient past.

Exclusive Andante excursion
Today we explore the important city of Cadiz founded by Phoenicians in the 9th century BC. We start with the archaeological museum which contains an important collection of artefacts from the city’s vast history, before proceeding to the Roman theatre, built in the 1st century BC and once one of the largest theatres in the empire. We end the morning with a visit to the Cathedral built in the city’s hey day when the city was enriched by the Transatlantic trade. After lunch, we go back in time and visit the archaeological site which contains the remains of the Phoenician settlement of Gadir, where we see remains of houses as well as a later Roman fish processing plant.

Today we join the Guadiana which meets the Guadalquivir in Cadiz and sail towards Portugal and arrive in Alcoutim, located in the Algarve, near the border, mid-morning. After a brief stay here, we sail the rest of the afternoon towards Huelva where we arrive in the evening.

Exclusive Andante excursion
This morning we visit the 13th century Moorish Castle at Alcoutim whose imposing position on the right bank of the tributary river of San Marcos made it an important site from the Neolithic period onwards. The current castle belongs to the period of the reconquista when the Portuguese crown undertook defensive measures to stamp their authority over lands they gained.

We awake in the Huelva, situated in the picturesque Algarve, where we spend the morning before sailing in the afternoon towards El Puerto de Santa Maria in the province of Cadiz and famed for being the port from which Columbus set sail to the Americas. In the evening we re-join the Guadalquivir and sail back to Seville. After our exclusive Andante excursion in the morning, we enjoy an afternoon wine tasting in the area of El Puerto de Santa Maria.

Exclusive Andante Excursions
Called on’u ba by the Phoenicians who settled here and later renamed Onoba by Greeks, Huelva was an important Phoenician trading post, exchanging precious metals and fish with cities throughout the Mediterranean. This morning we explore this city’s important past at the important Huelva Archaeological Museum.

Having sailed through the night, we return to Seville on our last full day ready to explore the wonders of Andalucia. We end the tour with one of the most impressive cities in Spain, Granada. In the morning, together with our fellow Croisi Europe passengers, we visit the incomparable Alhambra, first built as a fortress in the 9th century and turned into a palace fortress in the 14th century by the Emir of Granada. The Alhambra remains the most important witness to the great flourishing of the Muslim period of Andalucia, testament to the vibrant and cosmopolitan culture which made this part of the world unique.

Exclusive Andante excursion
After lunch, we explore the Archaeological Museum of Granada which sheds light on the city and on Andalucian history.

After disembarking the ship, we end our tour by visiting one of the most important Roman sites in Spain, Italica. The ancient city, founded in the 3rd century BC, is one of the best preserved in Spain and includes an amphitheatre, a number of elite houses, as well as a Traianeum, a shrine to the important emperor who was born there. The visible remains today derive from the Hadrianic period when the city was enlarged and given the status of colonia. In the afternoon, we take our return flights to London.