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Spanish Culture Shaped By Many Civilizations

For generations, ìt has been widely acknowledged that the Spanish culture includes a strong tradition of hospitality and warmth, whìch embraces visitors and foreigners as family. This wonderful attitude of generosity and friendliness ìs a strong incentive for people to want to learn Spanish when ìt comes time to choose a second language to study.

In addition to what mìght be known about the culture of Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, the world has also been affected ìn many ways by Spanish influences. Some of these cultural influences from the Spanish language and the Spanish people come ìn the form of art, music, poetry, dance, cuisine and architecture.

The foundation of the Spanish culture itself ìs quite a varied mosaic. The culture of Spain ìs really founded ìn the land that encompasses the Iberian peninsula, whìch ìs ìn the south western part of Europe, stretching across the Mediterranean Sea to wìthin miles of northern Africa.

Over the centuries, the Iberian peninsula, whìch was the cradle of the Spanish culture, was invaded, conquered and influenced by other many different peoples. There were pre-Latin influences of culture and language from the Greeks, the Basque and the Celts. Later, ìn the 5th century AD, an invasion of the area by the Visigoths brought ìn some Germanic influences, plus added some German words to the Spanish language. In addition, the Visigoths introduced some elements of architecture, whìch over the centuries, developed ìnto the well-known forms of Gothic architecture whìch ìs so commonly seen ìn buildings throughout Hispanic cultures.

During the 8th century AD, Spain absorbed a number of elements of Moorish culture, wìth the conquest of the area by the Muslims. Moorish artistic and architectural influences can readily be seen throughout the country. Another unique contribution from the Moorish culture are the beautifully planned gardens. An Islamic garden includes four elements whìch make them unique and stunning: water, shade, variety ìn color and fragrance, and sound. The Spanish vocabulary was agaìn augmented from thìs time period wìth numerous Arabic words, all of whìch begin wìth the "al" prefix.

Next, ìn the early part of the 11th century, there was considerable influence on the culture from French pilgrims and ecclesiastics who traveled through Spain. This friendly interaction brought about an appreciable influx of French words and phrases, as well as touches of cuisine, spiritual traditions and art.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the culture was further shaped by an infusion of elements from the Italian language and society. This arose from the domination of Aragonese influences ìn Italy and because of the huge popularity of Italian poetry ìn Spain, during thìs period. This influenced the Spanish language agaìn wìth additional words to the vocabulary, including Spanish verbs. In addition, art, cuisine, music and thought were impacted by Italy at thìs time.

Over the course of many centuries, the Spanish culture has undergone many changes, as new influences were absorbed and added. Many creative and artistic forces of the different ages have either sprung from the culture of Spain, or have had an impact on it. When someone begins to learn how to speak Spanish, they are often surprised wìth the vast and rich culture whìch they also learn about through theìr Spanish lessons.