The history of the European continent stretches back thousands and thousands of years. The first hominids, Homo erectus georgicus, settled in present-day Georgia around 1.8 million years ago. Modern humans appeared in Europe roughly forty thousand years ago. Ever since then, European culture has been developing. The culture you want to visit is young by comparison, though still hundreds or thousands of years old.
Greece
Luxury European tours cannot be considered complete without visiting Greece. Western civilization was founded in ancient Greece. Democracy and individualism were ideas popularized in ancient Greece. The city-state, or polis, was invented in the region as well. These political ideals shaped the rest of European history, but they were not fully adopted again until the 1700s. European philosophers and leaders looked to ancient Greece to inspire their societies.
Rome
The Roman Republic and later Roman Empire were major influences on European civilization. Law, devotion to a state, politics, language, architecture, and many other features of Western Civilization were created in the Roman Republic. Latin as a language of education and business comes from a reverence for ancient Rome. The Catholic Church, founded in Rome, adopted many of the customs of the Romans. To this day, some Catholic masses are still conducted in Latin. Luxury European tours often visit these historic cathedrals to experience the religion and thinking that shaped so much of the world’s history.
Middle Ages
After the Roman Empire had disappeared, Europe experienced much change and unrest. Many different groups of tribes and civilizations began moving about in Europe. This was also when Arab Muslims began to encroach on European nations. They claimed much of what used to be Roman territory. Ultimately, this proved to the benefit of Europe and to the benefit of tourists as well.
When luxury European tours travel to parts of the Mediterranean, the Arab Muslim influence is undeniable. One such attraction is Alhambra in Spain.
Alhambra
Alhambra, in Andalusia, is a palace and fortress. Originally, it was built in the ninth century CE as a fortress. It was rebuilt in the mid-1000s by the local emir, Mohammed ben Al-Ahmar. He built it to the palatial standards you see today. In the fourteenth century, the sultan of Granada converted it into a royal palace. In the late fifteenth century, the Catholic monarchs conquered Granada and added onto Alhambra.
The palace and fortress feature many elements of Arab and Moorish Muslim architecture from the ninth century to the fifteenth century. These include geometric paintings, high arches, and copious fountains. In addition to the Arab influence, it is also distinctly Spanish and Catholic due to the conquest by the Catholic rulers in the fifteenth century. These combining influences make Alhambra a wonderful destination for a vacation.
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