All language subtitles for The.World.From.Above.S04E03.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-AlfaHD_track3_[eng]

(wind whooshing)

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(upbeat music)

(laid-back music)

- Were start our
journey in the city of Ronda,

the birthplace of modern bullfighting,

before moving northward
over swathes of olive groves

to the spectacular Moorish
clifftop castle in Zahara.

We'll explore one of the
major metropolitan centers

of the ancient world, Cordoba,

and then move onward over
more olive plantations

via the hidden-away hamlet of Espejo,

on the way to the fortress
town of Montefrio.

Spain is the world's
largest producer of olives,

and Andalusia is responsible

for 80% of Spain's total production.

So, don't surprised, as we
encounter even more plantations

on the way to our final stop, Granada,

where we'll get a close look

at some of the architectural wonders

of the ancient Islamic world.

(laid-back guitar music)

In the words of British
travel writer Jan Morris,

"The image of Spain is
the image of Andalusia."

Indeed, the region's
traditions of olive farming,

bullfighting, and flamenco,

have become the iconic
representations of Spain.

Situated on the far south of the country,

the landscape and identity here

have been shaped by over a
thousand years of invasion,

religious conflict,
empires vying for power,

and the synthesis of myriad cultures,

both ancient and modern.

And perhaps no settlement better embodies

the cultural and historical
eclecticism of Andalusia

than the small city of Ronda.

Archeologists believe people
have settled in the area

as far back as the Neolithic
Age, 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.

But since then, the town
has been occupied by Celts,

Phoenicians, the Roman Empire,

the Byzantine Empire, and the Visigoths.

It was taken by Arab
invaders around 700 AD,

and ruled by Islamic
leaders for 800 years,

until the city fell into Catholic hands.

It was one of the most
severely-affected areas

during the Spanish Inquisition,

resulting in the execution,
exile, or enslavement

of thousands of Muslims and Jews.

Two centuries ago,

Napoleonic France decimated
Ronda's population

in the Peninsular War,

and the city then became
a bloody battleground

in the Spain Civil War of the 1930s.

In fact, in one of the more
chillingly-gruesome scenes

in Ernest Hemingway's
"For Whom the Bell Tolls",

fascist sympathizers
were tortured and thrown

from the cliffs we see here.

But those days are behind us,

and now, with a modest
population of 35,000,

Ronda is the fastest-growing
city in Andalusia.

This growth is fueled primarily

by the thriving tourism economy,

which is built largely
by the city's reputation

as the birthplace of modern bullfighting.

Pedro Romero, perhaps the most
famous matador in history,

hailed from Ronda,

and his father is attributed
with being the first

to engage bulls on his own two
feet, and not on horseback.

Legend has it that Pedro himself

killed almost 6,000 bulls in this manner.

Here we see the Plaza de Toros de Ronda,

the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain,

where once a year in September
residents and tourists flock

to witness the Corrida Goyesca,

a display of traditional
18th-century bullfighting.

(tranquil music)

30 kilometers northwest,

through the mountainous
Andalusian countryside,

is the province of Cadiz.

This attractive manmade reservoir

sits at the feet of the
spectacular town, Zahara.

Overlooking a long valley
between Ronda and Seville,

the town of Zahara grew up
around the Moorish castle

built on the hilltop we see here.

Because of its strategic location,

the Muslims and Christians
battled for control of the site

until 1407, when it fell into
Christian hands permanently.

Zahara is one of the pueblos
blancos, or white towns,

named for the whitewashed buildings

which cover the mountainside.

It has a small permanent
population of about 1,600,

and although there is no
real industry to speak of,

there are still some old stone
olive oil presses in use.

During the famous Fiesta
de Corpus Christi,

held here every year,

the residents dress their
houses in plant life,

so the whole town blends into
the natural surroundings.

When British travel writer
Richard Ford saw this spectacle,

he dubbed the town a Moorish eagle's nest,

and the title has stuck.

On our way to the next location,

we pass over endless rows
of olive plantations,

the crop so central

to Southern Spain's identity and culture.

(tranquil music)

Olive trees grow best on limestone cliffs

and in dry, tough, craggy soil,

which, as you can see,
Andalusia has in abundance.

And overlooking these fields,

we arrive at the Castle of Almodovar.

Built in 750 AD by Muslim Arabs,

this massive medieval fortress

is another example of
the significant impact

the Moors had on this region's
landscape and culture.

The structure is situated on a hillside,

beside the city of Almodovar,

and for hundreds of years

defended the Guadalquivir River below.

Then, in 1240, the castle
was taken by Ferdinand III,

and came under Christian rule.

It then served as a place of residence

for a number of Spanish kings,

as well as a treasury and dungeon.

The spectacular preservation
of the structure

can be attributed to the Earl of Torralva,

who oversaw renovation projects from 1903

to the beginning of the
Spanish Civil War in 1936.

These days, visitors
have free reign to castle

and its nine massive towers,

and can even attend an
historical recreation

of a knights' banquet.

25 kilometers to the east,
and we approach Cordoba.

(laid-back guitar music)

Believed by some historians

to be the most popular city in the world

in the 10th and 11th centuries,

Cordoba was a regional
powerhouse for over 1,000 years.

It was expanded as a Roman
colony in the first century BC,

and was passed back and
forth between powers,

until coming firmly under
Arab Muslim control in 716 AD.

For the next 300 years, the
city prospered economically,

politically, and culturally.

With over 3,000 mosques,
massive palaces, public spaces,

and the largest library
in the world at the time,

some historians estimate a population

of one million at its height.

Indeed, the city rivaled
Byzantium and Baghdad

in science, culture, and the arts,

and rumors of its greatness spread

throughout the civilized world.

And no structure symbolizes
the city's great ascension

and diverse identity more
than the Grand Mosque.

The building was originally
constructed as a church

in 600 AD by the Visigoths
who had settled in the area.

Muslims then bought half the church

in the early eighth century,

and subsequently spent two
centuries refashioning it

as the mosque we see today.

It remained in the caliphate's
hands for 300 years,

until Ferdinand III took Cordoba

as part of the Spanish Reconquest
in the mid-13th century.

It was during this time, and after,

that many Christian features were added.

A central cathedral was built
in the middle of the structure

and the minaret was
converted into a bell tower.

Now, the area around the Grand Mosque,

and the structure itself,

has been deemed a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.

And this is the popular
open-air Plaza de la Corredera.

Once used as a site for
gladiatorial matches, bullfights,

and Spanish Inquisition
displays of torture,

now the plaza's uses are much tamer:

rock concerts, fruit markets,

and a lively flee market on Saturdays.

This magnificent structure,

the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos,

or the Palace of the Christian Monarchs,

has a central place in
Spanish and world lore.

It served as the seat of
the Spanish Inquisition

for 300 years,

with the underground Arab baths

converted into torture chambers.

And on a lighter note,

it is where Ferdinand and Isabella

first met Christopher Columbus,

and commissioned him for
his trip to the New World.

South of the main castle
walls are the Alcazar Gardens.

The garden's pools, terraces,
and cooling fountains

display its Islamic origins,

and the people of Cordoba often retreat

to these cool gardens on hot summer days.

Cypresses and palms line the walkways,

and orange and lemon trees
add a fragrance to the air.

The construction of the gardens coincided

with the completion of a
nearby aqueduct and waterwheel

in the Guadalquivir River,

which fed the various water
features you see here.

The garden was enjoyed
by the Christian kings,

as well as the Muslims before them,

and has been well tended and
loved for over 1,000 years.

(tranquil music)

Leaving Cordoba, we pass over
olive country once again,

on our way southward to Espejo.

The small village of roughly 4,000

rises out of a mass of olive groves

like a long, white ship upon the ocean,

the watchtower of the
ship being the castle,

which was built in the 14th century,

and is now the private residence
of the Duchess of Osuna.

The village was given the status

of a Roman colony by Julius Caesar,

after the residents assisted

in the emperor's campaign against Pompey.

Like most of Andalusia, Espejo
was a Moorish settlement,

before it was completely deserted

during Ferdinand's reconquest of Spain.

Pay Arias de Castro

is attributed with
constructing the castle,

and repopulating the city
around the year 1300.

As can be imagined,

the main source of income for
the locals is the olive trade.

For kilometers in every direction,

there is nothing but olives,
olives, and more olives.

Finally, we come over a ridge,

and the olive groves give way

to the imposing limestone cliffs

of the Sierras Subbeticas Natural Park.

And somewhere among these cliffs

is the Cueva Murcielago, or the bat cave,

where Neolithic paintings and
other prehistoric human traces

have been discovered by
archeologists in modern times.

Again, we drift over the olive groves,

and descend on the town of Montefrio,

our first stop in the province of Granada.

The town rises over 800
meters above sea level

on a wedge-shaped cliff
between two ridges,

under the protection that
once was a Moorish fortress.

Archeological remains going back

5,000 years to the Copper Age

suggests that a far greater
area was once inhabited.

But after the Moorish conquest,

the local population, seeking protection,

moved to where we see it now.

Houses were built into and
around this impressive cliff

as a measure against attacks
from Christian armies.

This Gothic church, the
Castillo de la Villa,

was built on the site
of the Moorish fortress

which guarded the town.

And this domed building is
the Church of the Incarnation,

completed in 802, after
about 20 years of work.

Designed as a perfect circle,

and built out of robust stone
to withstand earthquakes,

some contemporary critics

suggested that the building's structure

is more suited as an oven than a church.

This church, the Church of the Covenant,

was originally inhabited
by Franciscan monks

in the early 18th century.

Since then, it has served
not only as a church,

but also a tenement house, city hall,

and more recently, a bakery.

Leaving peaceful Montefrio,

we pass over more dry rolling hills,

southeastward, and deeper
into the province of Granada.

And again, vast olive plantations
stretch out beneath us,

until we come to the foot
of the Sierra Nevada range,

and to the capital of
this province, Granada.

Established on a
confluence of three rivers

under the Sierra Nevada range,

Granada has been settled
by various peoples

for thousands of years.

Native Spanish, Jews,
Phoenicians, and Romans

have all been in control of
the area, but it was the Moors,

with their unique architecture, religion,

and penchant towards establishing
well-fortified settlements

that really has given Granada

its physical identity and modern appeal.

Indeed, the city is a
special place for Muslims,

as it was the last city of Islamic Spain

to fall to Ferdinand in 1492.

And with new waves of
North African immigrants

coming to the city in recent years,

the city is enjoying a
revival of Islamic culture.

(revenant choral music)

This is Granada Cathedral,

built during the Spanish Renaissance

in the early 16th century.

The structure was designed
in fits and starts

by a number of architects and sculptors,

so a variety of styles can
be seen in the construction,

including Gothic, Baroque,
and Classical Renaissance.

And at the apex of the city

sits the emblematic jewel of Granada,

and perhaps the most
visited monument in Spain,

the Alhambra.

Described by one 13th-century Moorish poet

as a pearl set in emeralds,

in reference to the
light-colored buildings

nestled amongst green forests,

the Alhambra served as a
palace, citadel, fortress,

and enclosed city for
sultans and court officials

in its heyday.

At the front end of the
complex is the Alcazaba,

translated simply as fortress.

Built in the ninth century,

this was the original
structure on this site.

It is perched of the highest
point of Sabikah Hill,

and consists of a detailed

and highly-fortified system of walls,

and three massive, dominating towers.

The largest, and by
far the most prominent,

is the foremost tower, the Torre
de Vela, or the watchtower.

The large bell at the front of the tower

is rung by young girls

to aid in their search of a husband,

and to ward of a life of spinsterhood.

And within the walls of
the Alhambra complex,

we're looking down at
the palace of Charles V.

After the Christian conquest of Granada,

members of the Spain royalty

took up full- or part-time
residence within the Alhambra.

But Charles V, the Holy
Roman Emperor at the time,

decided he needed a palace

befitting a monarch as powerful as he.

17 meters high, with a circular courtyard,

that we're gazing into now,

the building was considered
avant garde for its time,

designed as it was in the
burgeoning Mannerist style

of the early Spain Renaissance.

Some art historians
claim that such a style

had no precedent before
this palace was built.

Adjoining the palace is
the Court of the Myrtles,

named as such because of the
dense rows of myrtle bushes

that line the rectangular pool.

In Hispano-Muslim houses,

the courtyard is vitally important.

It is the area around which
all other rooms are placed,

and is an indicator of
the wealth of the family.

The most important
element in any courtyard

are the pools, fountains,
and water features,

which play a central role in the design.

To the east of Sabikah
Hill is the Generalife,

perched on the Hill of the Sun,

and separated from the
Alhambra by a small ravine.

(laid-back guitar music)

If the Alhambra was built primarily

for defensive and official
governing purposes,

the Generalife was
conceived and constructed

only with pleasure in mind.

Unlike its neighbor, the buildings
here are markedly simple,

lending a peaceful air
to the architecture.

Today, these, together
with the Moorish gardens,

comprise a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The word Generalife

is most commonly translated
as "The Architect's Garden,"

and the title is fitting.

Designed as a rural
villa and a place of rest

for Muslim royalty in the early 1300s,

the grounds are resplendent
with decorative gardens,

fruit and vegetable patches,

promenades, and shaded alcoves,

and the walkways are lined
with cypress and walnut trees.

The interplay of water with the sunlight

and surrounding landscape

are essential elements
of these Moorish gardens.

We have seen that Andalusia
and Granada in particular

has witnessed much
religious strife, warfare,

invasion, and occupation
over the centuries,

yet the gardens in the Generalife,

and magnificent feats of
architecture like the Alhambra,

have been preserved and respected

by Christian and Muslims alike,

and are now appreciated by people

of different religions and cultures

from all over the globe.

The history of Andalusia is certainly one

of stark cultural contrasts and conflict,

but the legacy that has
shaped the landscape

and the Andalusian people themselves

is a testament to the hope that perhaps

there are certain ideas and achievements

that are able to bring down the barriers

we erect between each other.

This is the real story of Andalusia,

and a great place to end this journey.

(dramatic music)

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