Portugal: IN THE LAND OF THE ENCHANTED MOORISH MAIDEN. Islamic Art in Portugal.

Tour length: 7 days / 6 nights Recommended periods: 15 September–30 November 2009, 3 January–30 June 2010 (excl. Easter), 15 September–30 November 2010 Price: From € 846 per person (sharing double room), depending on size of group.

Islamic Portugal, Gharb al-Andalus, represented an important example of the cultural symbiosis which characterised the Iberian Peninsula during eight centuries of Muslim presence. Local communities, mozarabes and muladis shared and revised the artistic models developed in the great Andalusian cities, which became intimately connected to local culture and artistic tradition over the centuries and left their mark in Mudéjar and Manueline art. The whole history of Islamic Portugal is strictly connected to its artistic heritage: like ancient Islamic travel writings, each destination can be seen as part of an artistic, historical and landscape framework, from Mudéjar Lisbon and Sintra to the beautiful Mértola, from Algarve and Alentejo up to the coast, to look back at the history of Islamic Portugal while visiting the traces of its glorious past.