Busy morning lethargic afternoon, turbulent night in Christian churches, gardens in Arabic, gypsy in some neighborhoods by tourist will ... Seville, the hours, turning a place to shadow of a minaret, changes according to the light that he carries. The Sevilla seem never to return to the beauty of their city, which is understandable. They say "quien no ha visto Sevilla no ha visto maravilla" and we believe them. And it is with curiosity and excitement that starts, the streets of the beautiful Andalusian, looking splendid Muslim past. We do not see it right away, even if there are many traces, but one is immediately immersed in an atmosphere, settings, pace of life to many centuries of domination and Muslim presence.
At daybreak, for example, when Seville out of his sleep, snorts and discards the last chills of the night, you can see the beautiful mess of flat roofs, huddled against each other, neighborhood Santa- Cruz. Here and there we see a Sevillian hanging clothes on a line, another watering cacti, or gathered around a breakfast family. These little morning ritual takes place with the backdrop of the Moorish battlements of the Alcazar, the tower-minaret of the Cathedral, one or two palms and harmony that binds the faded ocher glazed tiles with white lime. You might think in an Arab town and it is expected that the air is split by the sound of a muezzin.
Detail on the entrance to the Giralda, the icon of Seville.
This oriental heritage, long overshadowed yet founder of Andalusian culture, dating back to the arrival in 711, near Tarifa, various Muslim ethnic groups (Arabs, Berbers, etc.), who created Al-Andalus. This expression denoting the part of the Peninsula under Islamic rule, will create the word Andalusia. In the wake of Cordova, then radiant capital of the Umayyads, the city experienced a major economic and cultural boom. It built the first mosque and the Alcazar, place of residence of the governors of Cordoba. The fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba (1031) propelled the capital of the most powerful Taifa (small kingdoms), where the poet King Al-Mutamid maintained a literate and refined court. Then there are the Almoravids who seized Seville, before being driven out by the Almohad Seville in 1147 then enters its golden age.
Built in proud capital of the Almohad empire, she cultivates the intellectual and artistic life while fascinating medieval Europe still unpolished. At night, the streets of Seville are informed and safe while those of Paris are just muddy cutthroats. The city is embarking on many embellishments, including the construction of the Great Mosque (replaced by the Cathedral after the Reconquista). The Alcazar palace was expanded, docks are built over the Guadalquivir and enjoys strong walls is introduced. This fortified, leaving only the Torre del Oro and portions of walls of adobe. In 1248, the entrance to the city of King Ferdinand III of Castile put an end to Muslim rule in Seville.
Any duality of Andalusian memory is included in this architectural collision

Thus informed, we can sink us into the rhythm of the city; wander through the labyrinthine layout (typical medina) alleyways of the Jewish Quarter; admire moving flowered balconies; lead to the irresistible plot Doña Elvira buried under jasmine, bougainvillea and orange; take a quick furtive look at the enchanting patios covered with tiles (other Arab heritage) the Callejon del Agua. Still on foot, because taking the car to discover Seville hold of madness. So get lost, then dive to the ship extravagant stone cathedral. Essential jewel magnetizing the entire city, it summarizes all the pomp. Where to start? It seems appropriate to consider first of all visit the Giralda. Not only because its facade, composed of interlacing and rafters, displays a rare elegance, but also because, with its 97 meters, it was long the tallest tower in the world. Its silhouette is both powerful and slender is known all over the planet. It's sort of the Sevillian Eiffel Tower. Therefore difficult to avoid the cohorts of tourists poured through conditioned pullmans.
But it is interesting to know is that its architect Ibn Baso wanted her as resembling a twin sister minarets Rabat (Hassan Tower) and Marrakech (Kutubiyya), other jewels of Almohad architecture. With the court of ablutions (or Patio de los Naranjos), this is what remains of the old mosque built in 1172 by Caliph Yacoub Yusuf. A true wonder to say Muslim travelers of the time, supplanted in the fifteenth century by the dizzying Gothic cathedral. The five naves, the row of pillars carved, carved furniture, gold and silver debauchery chapels border on provocation. But the whole duality of Andalusian memory is included in this architectural collision and this improbable fusion of the cross and the crescent. We will not leave the premises without appreciating the tomb of Christopher Columbus and the beautiful stained glass windows of the sixteenth century depicting scenes from the Old Testament.
For those who want to dream in the middle of the good life that emanates from Muslim architecture, the palace of the Alcazar is the solution of choice. A series of rectangular courtyards traversed by canals and fountains, as well as sumptuous rooms await you. These domes carved wood, these remarkable tiles lined walls, the ornate coffered ceilings, these finely crafted columns were built more than a century after the meeting of Andalusia in Spain. For despite the Reconquista, Islamic art, prized by Christian rulers, has continued under the name of Mudejar art. A term meaning "subject" and that applies to Muslims allowed to remain in the territory. The Mudejar synthesis of Muslim and Christian art taste, unique to Spain, decorated with arabesques, its lobed arches, its stone temple embroidery of a voluptuous lifestyle.
The walls of the Alcazar Gardens.
But do not miss the only remaining room of the Almohad palace patio del Yeso. Chiseled archway, partly perforated and covered with stucco, are all reminders of the sophistication of this dynasty. Along the palace succeed stunning beauty gardens, arbours and secret paths, planted palms, magnolias and flower beds, refreshed water jets, murmuring fountains and underground pools. In the morning, the heavy air corona is a miraculous purity.
Another clear of Mudejar art, Casa de Pilatos, an aristocratic mansion became the symbol of the Renaissance in Seville, and also one of its most beautiful palaces. Arches are home to a stunning Roman and Greek statuary, including a sculpture of Athena from the fifth century BC After borrowing the gray marble staircase decorated with beautiful tiles, it opens into a room decorated with frescoes representing Renaissance poets and emperors of antiquity. The ceilings and the coffee table Smokers, not far, reaching the peak of the Mudejar marquetry. Marvel at The Death of the bull in the arena, Goya (lounge del Torreon), then stroll through the peaceful gardens with an Italian flair.
But the ideas of luxury and idleness that suggest places as poétiquesne not forget the other side of Al-Andalus. The cities perched-like military bastions, agricultural villages coiled in the valleys and villages that dot the white peaks of the Sierra de Cadiz and Ronda highlands. Narrow streets, small houses carefully whitewashed cube, black grilles, bright red geraniums glances give them the look of Medina. Encamped at the entrance to the route of the white villages (pueblos blancos), a network of city-fortresses developed by Muslims, Arcos de la Frontera seems suspended in space.
Erected on top of a cliff with its impressive castle built by the dynasty of Ben Jazrum, it overlooks one of the loops of the Rio Guadalete. Beyond Arcos de la Frontera, the land takes places the color of African laterites and of these copper valleys where olive advancing like an army in battle, beauty is everywhere. Bunches of palm trees and cactus arise at any moment. The villages are losing their tiles in favor of terraces, limestone walls is brighter, the spiers of the minarets have slimness they once were.
Encamped at the entrance to the route of the white villages, Arcos de la Frontera seems suspended in space ...
As as you approach the ocean, Europe éloigne.Le Morocco is not far ... At the end of the peninsula, from Algeciras or Tarifa, weather clearly, as can be seen from a balcony of the magic Ifriqiya. Africa, the cradle of Arab scholars courses Cordoba, Seville and Granada, translators of the legacy of Aristotle and other thinkers. Daily ferry connects the two separated by only 14 kilometers continents and view the wide, Tanger White "seems almost cheerful (...), with its walls of a snowy whiteness, high crenellated casbah and plated minarets old tiles, "as Pierre Loti observed during a diplomatic mission.
Moulay Hafid palace (now the Palace of Italian Institutions) in Tangier.
No sooner do we landed, the wind blowing through the unexpected that city. You lose the sense of the day, the year, the time in which we live. The main road from the port quickly made way for streets, alleys and streets, when they become too narrow for the taxi can pass, we continue to walk in the middle of a lively crowd. Accompanied by Rachid Tafersiti, writer, connoisseur of the backyards of the old palace and maze of the medina. Concentrates on the details of a network of sculpted plaster, door to richly painted doors, a patio paved with tiles, we have more than once lost mark. Our mental map of the city has become blurred, faded and we did not know which side were the ocean, Little Grand Socco (Souk in Spanish) that we had crossed. "One of our finest examples of Moorish architecture after the great mosque (time converted into a cathedral!) And delicate floral cartridges, is the palace of the Kasbah" is he exclaims.
Its various rooms are richly decorated with real gems sheltering alcoves domes dotted with stars polygonal horseshoe arches supported by columns and half columns, friezes carved wooden stalactites. They currently host the showcases of regional ethnographic museum and archaeological.
Other Artistic survival mixing Muslim and Christian art art, the palace of Italian Institutions (Moulay Hafid former palace) deploys large ceremonial and beautiful Andalusian garden rooms. But St. Andrew's church, whose bell tower with a square base stands as a minaret, remains the most singular example. Inside the arc finely executed on the opening chorus is set with a short strip where the Lord's Prayer in Arabic! Amazingly symbiosis reflects the ceaseless movement of men left Islamize Spain and fleeing, seven centuries later, the Reconquista. An era where thought and artistic creation have had some great times ...
TRAVEL BOOK

Site of the tourist office of Andalusia (www.andalucia.org).
Vueling (www.vueling.com) offers flights Paris-Seville from 49 € Tangier and Paris from 89 €.
Surrounded by walls Almohad, the gardens of the Alcázar are an oasis in the heart of Seville.
Land rental (01.55.42.74.10; www.terresdecharme.com) is one of the first operators to offer a combined discovery of Seville and Tangier. Route 8 days / 7 nights in a double room with breakfast from € 1,640 per person from Paris. This price includes transfers, 4 days car rental from Seville to Algeciras and the ferry Tarifa-Tangier (free shuttle service between Algeciras and Tarifa). The travel specialist bespoke option suggests a range of excursions and guided tours, as this "cultural discovery" of Tangier in the company of a writer passionate about his hometown, where he knows all the secrets. Other themes in Seville: Andalusia in the kitchen, flamenco lessons, wine tasting, bird discovery in Doñana, etc.
In Seville, the Corral del Rey (00.34.954.227.116; www.corraldelrey.com). In the former residence of the seventeenth, a boutique hotel in a great location, just minutes walk from the cathedral through the serpentine streets of the Santa Cruz district. Works of art, antique furniture, antiques are up a chic and charming atmosphere. From € 308 per night in double room with breakfast.
The Hacienda de San Rafael.
Jeres between Seville and the Corral del Rey's "property was" in an old olive grove: Hacienda de San Rafael (www.haciendadesanrafael.com). A beautiful farmhouse decorated in rustic chic style, 14 rooms and suites, swimming pool. From 275 €.
In the maze of narrow streets with whitewashed walls of the most famous pueblos blancos, the welcoming Casa Grande (00.34.956.703.930; www.lacasagrande.net). At the top of the cliff, this small hotel with 7 bedrooms enjoys an eagle on the Rio Guadalete view. From 79 € (or 99 € for a double room with private terrace).
In Tangier, heart for the Nord-Pinus (04.90.93.44.44; www.nord-pinus-tanger.com). A double room, 4 suites and home of Jean-Luc welcome guests at this luxury riad guest nicely perched on the Portuguese ramparts of the Kasbah. Breathtaking views of Tarifa, the Spanish coast and the deep blue sea. From 210 €.
The tapas bar in Seville Las Teresas.
In Seville. Las Teresas (00.34. 954.21.30.69), 2 Calle Santa Teresa. An authentic tapas bar (3 €) with walls covered in old posters, tiles, hanging hams. El Rinconcillo (00.34.954.22.31.83), 40 calle Gerona. Venerable institution quaint Seville (1670) in which to enjoy mouthwatering tapas (€ 2).
Monastero de la Cartuja, Centro Andaluz de Arte contemporáneo (00.34.955.03.70.70; www.caac.es). Christopher Columbus lived and prepared his second expedition. Hosts exhibitions of Spanish and foreign artists in a beautiful setting. Museo del Baile Flamenco (00.34.954.34.03.11). Unravel the mystery of the soul Andalusian entering the world of flamenco. Dance workshops and performances as renewed each night.
In Seville, for Abades Triana (00.34.954.28.64.59), 69 calle Betis. World food (allow € 35) served in a cube suspended over the Guadalquivir glass, overlooking the Torre del Oro, magical night!
The restaurant Abades Triana and sumptuous views over the Guadalquivir and the Torre del Oro.
Tangier. Realities of a myth, Rachid Tafersiti, Zarouila Editions. The Andalusian Morocco. Discovering a way of life, Editions Eddif Edisud.
The free shuttle Algeciras and Tarifa (to take over the port of Algeciras near the ferry ticket) is not signposted.