From its earliest beginnings as an Umayyad province and up until the 15th century, al-Andalus acted as a lynch pin within the Mediterranean world. Connecting the Islamic empire in the East and forging links of trade and cultural exchange with Europe to the West, cities such as Cordoba and Granada captured the imagination of contemporary chroniclers, earning descriptions in the sources as truly “first-rate places”. Through an exploration of the historical, artistic, architectural, urban, social and economic contexts, this course will engage with and expand upon current understandings of this seminal period in Islamic history to examine Islam’s encounters and modes of cultural exchange with Europe and the Mediterranean world.