ABSTRACT
The history of the presence of Muslims in Europe involves three distinct processes of population activity. The earliest, occurring in the seventh–eighth century, is the result of the arrival of Muslim armies in Sicily and Spain, places from which they were eventually driven out. Of this occupation, architectural tracts remain (Granada and Córdoba in Spain, Palermo in Sicily are examples), but there are also traces upon the collective memory of peoples, chiefly but not exclusively upon the memory of Muslims. The myth of ‘al-Andalus’ (Andalusia) recalls a flourishing period for Islam in Spain, a time of high civilization and culture. The reconquista (reconquest) by Christian armies accomplished in the fifteenth century attempted at the same time to erase this legacy in Europe. Today a more balanced interpretation of the period is preferred. It represents for Muslims and non-Muslims a quasi-mythical reference which does not always conform to the strictly factual reality; a reference to the possibility of a peaceful and fruitful cohabitation for populations of different religions and cultures, side by side.
