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Moorish gardens make prominent use of water – so important to people from a perpetually arid land. It was sprayed, channelled, made to gurgle and fall, to please the ear and eye. Jasmine, honeysuckle and roses are just a few of the flowers the Moors brought to the region.

The six-stringed flamenco guitar can be traced back to the medieval lute. Compared to the classical guitar, it is lighter, shallower and less resonant, so that it can be played extremely fast, and also features a thick plate below the soundhole for tapping out rhythms.

Trajan’s successor (117–38) was a great builder, emphasizing Rome’s Classical Greek roots.

Although gypsies have remained outsiders throughout their history, they found a more congenial civilization in Andalucía than anywhere else. The culture was decidedly Middle Eastern and not dissimilar to that of their native land. With the Christian reconquest, however, “pagan” gypsies were forced into hiding or into further wanderings.

Andalucían gypsies have a reputation for their ability to train their steeds. To watch a gypsy horseman putting an animal through its paces is to witness an amazing display of communication between man and beast.

It’s intriguing to find one of the masterpieces of Andalucían Rococo design in this industrial town – especially because Lucena was famous for having been a virtually independent Jewish enclave during Moorish rule. The gem of this 15th-century church is its 18th-century octagonal sacristy and the complex decoration of the chapel and its dome.

Colonial losses that began in 1713 following the War of Spanish Succession reached their dénouement with Spain’s defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898. In Andalucía this long decline meant grinding poverty and mass emigration.

Isabel of Castilla and Fernando of Aragón (1479– 1516) were dubbed “The Catholic Monarchs”.

A good peña for genuine flamenco.

This peña (flamenco club) is named after a flamenco festival held in September.