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“Following the Footsteps of Arab Madrid” Tours

June 02, 2018See schedule.
MADRID
Casa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Alcalá, 62). See schedule. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.

Within the framework of Mira Madrid, an initiative by the Municipal Government of Madrid, to be held on Saturday, June 2 in the capital city, Casa Árabe is offering three guided tours, a Gnawa street performance and a calligrapher.

The walking tour titled “Following the Footsteps of Arab Madrid: Remains, vestiges and influences of Mayrit” will allow those taking part to discover Madrid’s Arab origins. Our city was founded in the mid-ninth century (sometime between the years 853 and 865) by Emir Mohamed I of Cordoba as a military settlement, and it remained under Muslim rule until it was conquered by King Alfonso VI of Castile in 1085. Still in existence from those two centuries are various remains of the original walled city area (in Parque Mohamed I and the Plaza de la Armería), in addition to certain vestiges distributed throughout the environs of the Almudena Cathedral (at Calle Bailén, 12) and in the Plaza de Oriente (Torre de los Huesos). This medieval tour also explains the Arab legacy existing in the later Mudéjar style architecture (Church of San Nicolás, Church of San Pedro and Torre de los Lujanes).
 
The tours will be held on Saturday, June 2 at 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. To take part, you must sign up in advance as of May 25, by writing to eventos@esmadrid.com.
 
Meeting point: The bronze model of medieval Madrid, which is located by the Arab City Wall at the end of Cuesta de la Vega, across from the entrance to the crypt of the Almudena Cathedral.
 
Tour route:
Model of medieval Madrid (meeting point),
Parque Mohamed I
Remains of the Arab city wall on Calle Bailén
Remains of the Mudéjar Church of Santa María de la Almudena (former mosque of Mayrit)
Remains of the Arab city wall at the Italian Culture Institute
Plaza de la Villa, with the medieval Mudéjar buildings (Casa y torre de los Lujanes)
Mudéjar Church of San Nicolás
Remains of the city wall of the “medinilla” at the end of the Altos de Rebeque
Remains of the same city wall and the Mudéjar Church of San Juan in the Plaza de Ramales
End of tour: remains of the Islamic tower (Torre de los Huesos) in the Plaza de Oriente parking garage.

In the afternoon, in the Casa Árabe garden, we will be offering a street performance by the group Gnaoua Bakbu, which will be playing traditional Moroccan and Gnawa music. There will be two sessions, one at 7:00 p.m and the other at 8:00 p.m. And a calligrapher will be writing the names of anyone who asks him to in Arabic, as of 7:00 p.m.
 
“Following the Footsteps of Arab Madrid” Tours