The Culture, Traditions, and Heritage of Spain

Architecture in Spain

The architecture of Spain has drawn from numerous influences, thanks in large part to its historical and geographical diversity.  During early times, the city of Cordoba became the cultural capital of the region; an important provincial city founded by the Romans, with an extensive Roman-era infrastructure.  Early and very beautiful Arabic style architecture began to emerge during the time of the Islamic Umayyad dynasty.  This would later be bolstered by new Arabic-style architecture under the successive Islamic dynasties, ending with the Nasrid, which built its renowned palace complex in the city of Granada.

In the early Middle Ages, the Christian kingdoms began to develop their own style of architecture, now known as pre-Romanesque.  Later, after being exposed to the contemporary mainstream European architectural influences, these kingdoms integrated the popular Romanesque and later Gothic styles of architecture. The Gothic style flourished in Spain for decades, but later gave way to the Mudejar style of architecture, popular from the 12th to 17th century.  This style, which can still be seen in scores of Spanish buildings and residences today, consists of Arab-style motifs, blended beautifully with patterns and elements of European architecture.

Today the architecture of Spain is a combination of Old World influences and contemporary modernism, a style that has produced many famous architects, including the world-renowned Antoni Gaudi.  More recently, architects such as Rafael Moneo, Santiago Calatrva, and Ricardo Bofill, among others, have received international acclaim for their work, both in Europe and abroad. Learn more about architecture in Madrid and architecture in Toledo.

Like its architecture, the literature of Spain has drawn from many influences throughout the country’s long history, again due to its historical, geographic and generational diversity.  During this history, there have been several major literary movements.  The development of Spanish literature intersects with that of other literary traditions from the various regions of the country, particularly Catalan literature, Galician literature and, more recently, a formal Basque literature. In its earliest form, the literature of Spain was also been influenced by Latin, Jewish, and Arabic literary traditions of the Iberian peninsula.

The most well-known Spanish author by far is Miguel de Cervantes, who penned the famous novel Don Quixote, the most emblematic work in the history of Spanish literature and a founding classic of Western literature.  Other well-known Spanish authors include Felix Lope de Vega, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and Camilo José Cela.