سلام and welcome to my home. The white walled city above is Cordoba ( قرطبة Qortoba) the sand colored walls encircle the Alcazar (القصر, al-qasr). These are but two of the wonders of al-Andaluz (الأندلس), Spain. Chronology of Islamic Spain in the library. As you wander through my house you will discover places that serve as my homebase for certain activities. In the courtyard you will find the fascinating story of Qusayr 'Amra قصر عمرة‎.

You are required to remove your shoes in the house of خليفة Caliph Abd er Rahman bin Mu'awiyah al-Qurtuiyya.

Most favored among stallions Al-Andaluz

Direct descendants of the Andalucian horse are the Lippizaners of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, established in 1572 as an adjunct to the Court in order to educate their nobility in the equestrian arts. It was called the Spanish Riding School because from its very beginning only Spanish stallions were used there.

The Umayyads الأمويون / بنو أمية were an Islamic dynasty established by the caliph Muawiyah I (Mu'awiya) in 661. An earlier caliph, Uthman (r. 644-56), had been a member of the powerful Umayyad clan, but he was murdered and replaced by Ali. When Muawiyah, previously governor of Syria, seized the caliphate, he made the succession hereditary and thus inaugurated dynastic rule. From their capital at Damascus (Dimashq or ash-Sham), the Umayyad caliphs ruled a vast empire, extending from Europe to India, until 750. Thereafter the line continued in Spain until 1031.

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