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200 DAYS IN THE SUN
How firmly the hearts of the Moors were attached
to this place! They called the Vega “the Garden of
Paradise” and imagined the Heaven of the Faithful
lay directly above it. Any one who died here could
not help going to heaven; hither the warrior felt com-
pelled to return in order to die blessed. And the
Moors wept—wept like women, says the romance—
when they were driven from this place by Isabella the
Catholic. Many regions about the Mediterranean still
retain shining traces of this highly gifted, gently judg-
ing people. But it is at this place that the Moors at-
tained their greatest achievements—in architecture and
poetry, in agriculture and engineering: in civilization.
So greatly did they love Granada.
Granada was founded by ancient Iberians and is
mentioned in history as early as about 500 B.c. But
the city attained no importance until twelve centuries
later, in 711 A.D., when the Moors, aided by. Tarek
the One-Eyed, ventured across the “Straits” and con-
quered southern Spain. Granada was taken the same
year. The era of its blossoming followed, and it con-
tinued to expand in glory for eight centuries and then
suddenly it collapsed.
The penetration of the Moors into Europe was like
a flood of light piercing our dismal medieval darkness.
The migration proceeded by way of Africa; but most
of the persons that made it up came from remoter
parts of the Orient, from the vicinity of Mecca and
Medina, Damascus and Bagdad.
The settlers from Damascus chose Granada as their
place of sojourn, because this city with its hills behind
it and the broad Vega in front reminded them strongly
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