NEW! Iberian Odyssey

  • From AU$17,240
  • |
  • 17 Days
  • |
  • 14 Guided Tours
  • |
  • 3 Countries

Murcia (Cartagena), Spain

The charms of Murcia lie in its embrace of its rural pleasures. Surrounded by farmland and fertile huertas, Murcianos are never at a loss for produce freshly plucked from “Europe’s orchard.” They, in turn, live by the patient cycle of the harvest, going about their days at a leisurely pace. The Moors founded the city in 825 and introduced a vast irrigation network for crops and for city use. They were expelled by Ferdinand III of Castile in 1243. Murcia province remained a vassal kingdom until 1812 and became an autonomous region of Spain in 1982.