Over and out

Luxeuil les Bains was known to the Romans as Luxovium. They were attracted by the more than a dozen warm springs. In 590, the iro-scottish missionary St. Columban founded the Abbey of Luxeuil. In the 8th century, it was destroyed by the Saracens. It was rebuilt, but afterward, the monastery and town were devastated by the Normans, Magyars, and Muslims. The abbey schools were celebrated in the Middle Ages but the abbey´s influence power was curtailed by Charles V and the abbey was suppressed at the time of the French Revolution. In 1975 Luxeuil had a population of 10.105. In 2019 there were only 6623 inhabitants. Not enough customers for the Papiterie.

The Ottonian kings began conquering the Slavic region in the 10th century. In 928, Henry I conquered Brandenburg. His son Otto founded the diocese of Brandenburg in 948. The city of Burg is mentioned for the first time in the founding charter. To secure their influence, especially Albrecht the Bear attracted Flemish settlers to the land of Burg. They founded the lower town of Burg and introduced cloth making. The Flemish immigrants brought with them important trade connections from their homeland. Their cattle breeding, beer brewing and the production of woolen cloth became a basis for the flourishing development of the town of Burg. At that time, Burg consisted of two largely independent settlements, the Upper Town and the Lower Town. Rathaus Drogerie

León was founded in 68 AD for a Roman legion from which they were supposed to pacify the rebellious mountain dwellers of Asturias and Cantabria. The name of the settlement that was then developed is based on a refined form of the Latin word "legio". After the end of the Roman Empire, the city was conquered by the Visigoths and in 712 by the Moors. In 856, after the reconquest under King Ordoño I of Asturias, the city was repopulated. Ordoño II made León the capital of his kingdom of León in 914. Sacked by Almanzor in about 987, the city was reconstructed and repopulated by Alfonso V, León was an important stop on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela. Traders and artisans settled in the suburbs and had a strong influence on the development of the city from the 13th century onwards. In the early Middle Ages, the city became prosperous through the cattle trade. However, from the 16th century until the 19th century, the economy and population declined. Over and Out. - Fermeture définitive.

In 192 BC, the Romans conquered the area and founded the outpost Toletum. Due to its iron ore deposits, Toledo developed into an important settlement. Since the first barbarian invasions, the ancient walls were reinforced. In 411 the Alans and later the Visigoths conquered the city. Toledo was the capital of the Visigoths' empire from about 531 to 711. The Moors conquered the place in 712. Toledo experienced its heyday during the period of Moorish rule as Ṭulayṭula during the Caliphate of Córdoba until its conquest by Alfonso VI in 1085, after a four-year siege. In 1088, only a few years after the conquest, Archbishop Bernard of Toledo obtained confirmation from Pope Urban II that Toledo should hold the "primatus in totis Hispaniarum regnis" (primacy in all the kingdoms of the Iberian dominions). The Archbishop of Toledo is still today the Primate of the Catholic Church of Spain. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Toledo school of translators translated ancient philosophical writings (Plato, Aristotle) that had been translated from Greek into Arabic, but also genuinely Arabic writings from the fields of astronomy, mathematics, Islamic religion and theology into Latin. After the conquest by Alfonso VI, Toledo became the residence of the Kingdom of Castile in 1087 and remained the capital of Spain until 1561. Marzipan is a specialty in Toledo. However, not all stores are successful on the long run.

With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Badajoz is the most populous municipality and the largest economic center in Extremadura. The city was founded around 875 by Ibn Marwan. Under his successors, was the capital of an emirate that encompassed the Spanish Extremadura and, in the 11th century, almost all of Portugal. In 1094 the city was conquered by the Almoravids.It was conquered in 1230 by Alfonso IX. and permanently taken from the Moors by León. Books are not believed cool anymore. Young people use electronic pocket books. I do prefer paper.

The Phoenicians founded bases in Portugal from 1000 BC. They and later the c are said to have called the site "Alis Ubbo" and used it as the only large natural harbor on the Iberian Atlantic coast. According to Pliny the Elder, Lisbon was later regarded as a foundation of Odysseus. Under Roman rule, from around 205 BC, the city was initially called Olisipo. Julius Caesar succeeded in breaking the last resistance of the local tribes in 60 BC. Under Caesar, Roman veterans were settled here to control the area. The town was granted Roman city rights in 48 BC and subsequently became a larg town in the province of Lusitania. From 409 A.D. onwards, barbarian tribes advanced into the Iberian Peninsula. Alans, Suebi, Vandals and Visigoths attempted to occupy Lisbon. In 468, the Roman city commander surrendered the city to the Suebi, but shortly after the earthquake of 472 the Visigoths began to rule. In 719, Lisbon was conquered by Muslim Moors and later became part of the Emirate of Córdoba. After this, the city experienced its first major boom. Although Alfonso II conquered the city for a short time in 798,[ Lisbon soon fell to the Moors again. During the Caliphate of Córdoba, the city was one of the most important ports, while Christian Galicians and Leonese repeatedly attempted to conquer it. Vikings devastated the city and the surrounding area in 844. In the 11th century, Lisbon belonged to the Emirate of Badajoz. From 1093, Raymond of Armous, a son of William I of Burgundy, was given the rule of Galicia. From there, he undertook campaigns against the Moors in the south. He succeeded in temporarily entering Lisbon after the Muslim ruler of Badajoz had submitted to King Alfonso, but even this conquest was was not permanent, nor was the occupation of Lisbon by Norwegian crusaders under Sigurd in 1108. Even when Alfonso I came to power, the south of the Iberian Peninsula was still held by the Moors. However, in 1147, the siege of Lisbon finally led to the capture of the city. External support for the attackers was decisive: the successful siege of the city by an army of crusaders from the Second Crusade secured Alfonso I the basis for his rule over the entire surrounding area. An earthquake struck on the morning of 1 November 1755.Along with a major fire and a tsunami, the Lisbon earthquake destroyed the Portuguese capital almost completely. With 30,000 to 100,000 deaths of the 275,000 inhabitants, this earthquake is one of the most devastating natural disasters in European history. About 85 percent of all Lisbon's buildings were destroyed, The Deusa shoe store in downtown Lisbon was founded in 1951 and existed here until 2022.

The name Montbozon probably dates back to around 800 and goes back to Count Bozon, a grandson of Charlemagne. A noble family from Montbozon has been documented since the 12th century. Only around 500 residents were unable to keep the butcher's shop open.

When Charlemagne spent Christmas here in 775, Sélestat was probably little more than a village. Today, Sélestat claims to be the birthplace of the Christmas tree, based on an invoice dating back to 1521. When in 1964 the Knoepfli company opened the shop in what was then a very modern building, it was a big step for the bed and mattress business. After 59 years, the shop was closed and a tenant was sought for the 600m².

In 2009, I crossed Orthez on foot along the Via Lemovicensis. In medieval times the town was important because it was possible to control the movement of goods on the Gave de Pau river here. In 1242, Gaston VII Moncade, Viscount of Béarn, made Orthez his residence. It was probably at his instigation that the medieval bridge was built, which is still the town's landmark today and which I crossed at the time. Armes & Cycles

El Puerto de Santa María is located on the banks of the Guadalete River about 10 km northeast of Cádiz, across the bay of Cádiz. In 711, Arab from the North of Africa conquered southern Spain. They named the place Alcanatif which means Port of Salt, due to the old salt industry of Phoenicians and Romans. In 1260, Alfonso X of Castile conquered the city from the Moors and renamed it Santa María del Puerto. This was one of the most importants towns of the Kingdom of Seville throughout the late middle ages. Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the Americas set sail from here. Later El Puerto was the residence of several wealthy merchants who operated Spain's trade with the Americas.

Lucena was known to the Moors as Al-Yussena. From the 9th to the 12th century, Lucena was an important Jewish center and was characterized by a predominantly Jewish population. In the 11th century, there was a large Talmudic academy here. With the beginning of the Almoravid and Almohad rule, the number of Jews fell drastically. The Jews fled to places in the Christian north, were forcibly converted to Islam or deported as prisoners to North Africa. Lucena was conquered by the Almohads in 1148, after which it ceased to exist as a Jewish center. Today, Lucena is a city with around 50,000 inhabitants and is known for its “Semana Santa”. The star seems to have gone under

There was already a fortified settlement in Beja in Celtic-Roman times, which was renamed Pax Julia after the peace treaty between Julius Caesar and the Lusitanians in 48 BC; from then on it belonged to the Roman province of Lusitania. The town remained an important economic and strategic centre under the Suebi, Visigoths and Moors. In 1159, King Alfonso I of Portugal reconquered the town from the hands of the Muslims, but abandoned it just a few months later. In 1191, the Almohad sultan and general Almansor conquered the area. It only reverted back to the Christians in the 1230s. Kings Alfonso III (+ 1279) and especially Dinis I (+ 1325) restored and enlarged the castle. The non-smoking campaigns have many consequences. One can be seen here.