Historical Setting Marbella will form part of the Cora (province) de Rayya in caliphal times, coinciding roughly with the actual province of Málaga. In the XII century, the geographer from Ceuta al-Idrisi defined Marbella as: “a small but well inhabited village”. Muhammad, al-Idrisi Within the information compiled by the Legado Andalusí (Andalus Legacy), which includes the “Routes of al-Andalus”, our town appears under the “al-Idrisi Route”. According to research: “Muhammad, alIdrisi was a descendant of King Idris II, who had governed isolated Málaga, after its dismemberment from the Caliphate. He was born in Ceuta at the end of the XI century and studied in Córdoba, town in which he acquired a solid intellectual education. Political and religious problems with the Córdoba authorities obliged him to go into exile without returning. After travelling around al-Andalus, the North of Africa and the Near East, he ended up living in Sevilla, under the protection of King Roger II. He was a man with a universal vocation. His own town of birth, Ceuta, at a crossroads, forged people who loved hospitality and getting to know other lands, other people. But al-Idrisi, as well as
endowed with a sharp capacity for observation, and although he followed the path of other great travellers of Antiquity, took the wise decision of providing full descriptions of the places he visited. He is considered to be one of the first great geographers in history: when he couldn’t visit somewhere, he sent others who rigorously informed him of its characteristics. Fruit of his own travels and from information brought to him, he wrote one of the most complete travel books from all medieval centuries: “For the delight of he who wishes to travel the world”. In the book there is one of the richest references ever made about al-Andalus. The work is also known as the Book of Roger... al-Idrisi, apart from writing his famous travel book, constructed a celestial sphere and a mapamundi. Our geographer died in the town of Palermo, far from his beloved al-Andalus, in the year 1165”. The Routes of al-Andalus, 9 al-Idrisi.
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