Arabic residues in Colombia . .

jaramillo says on Sep 28, 2007, 06:26:

The strongest middle eastern influence is, I’d say, in the Atlantic coast. I have attached a pic of an old family album. The man in Arab garb is my father, a paisa without any middle eastern heritage (except for that which comes to us from Spain). He was visiting the house of a Sirian-Lebanese friend in Cartagena. We called the Lebanese “Turcos", although of course they were not. They were legendary merchants, skilled and shrewd, but honest. I find it amazing the very high degree of assimilation they achieved. They love vallenato and “arepaehuevo".

The mudéjar influence is a legacy of Spanish colonization, and it's naturally more common in the coast, with its hot weather, savannas, and Andalusian connections.

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billyb says on Sep 28, 2007, 06:31:

I don't have the link anymore, but you can do an archive search on Semana magazine online, where they have a special issue that came out about a year or two ago and it is about the foreign communities that settled in Colombia during the past couple of centuries, their contributions and in which regions they had the most impact

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LA_MONA says on Sep 28, 2007, 06:38:

Jaramillo, your father looks the part with his arab garb on, I think it's great that they liked arepaehuevo and vallenato, vea pues.

Para volar, es preciso tener resistencia. -M.Lin

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bill230 says on Sep 28, 2007, 10:10:

excellent

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love2colombia says on Sep 28, 2007, 12:49:

The beauty of barranquilla


Half Colombian, half Lebanese :-P

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Sep 28, 2007, 13:09:

www.ImageShack.us" />


Torre Mudejar, San Francisco Church, Cali.

Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

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manINred says on Sep 28, 2007, 13:14:

Arabic-style mudejar architecture is beautiful. Alas it is not very visible in Colombia at all.

The last stronghold of Al-Andalus, muslim spain, was in Grenada if memory serves me correct. However Andalucia, even after the Reconquest, managed to maintain many of its muslim cultural traditions, but that is in the south of spain.

Much of central Colombia was colonized by people from Aragon, in northern Spain, so it never really influenced the architectural styles in Antioquia, Quindio, etc... (central regions). Nor have I seen any evidence of it in southern Colombia. I could be mistaken though.

Having been to Baranquilla once, I would never say that mudejar architecture is predominant, nor would I say it's common, but its influence is reflected in some buildings.

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Sep 28, 2007, 13:31:

www.ImageShack.us" />

Another take of the same building. As far as I know, this is the only building of mudéjar architecture in Cali, just the tower, not the rest of the church. I find Mudéjar architecture very appealing as well, but it is indeed, very rare in Colombia.

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

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Miguel says on Sep 28, 2007, 15:07:

Indeed there is a large Arab-Colombian community in and around Barranquilla.

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Lauthra says on Sep 28, 2007, 17:33:

I'm half colmbian and half lebanese too. There is a relatively large Lebanese community in Cali, but the biggest arabic community is definitely in Barranquilla.

Nato (='.'=)

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billyb says on Sep 28, 2007, 17:42:

Isn't the highest concentration per capita if not in total numbers in Maicao?

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Robert Jorge says on Sep 28, 2007, 21:57:

Is the "Arab" or middle eastern population in Colombia predominantly Catholic? The reason I am asking, is I have met only a few Lebanese in the US. They were all Catholic. I assume Colombia being in the high 90% level - population Catholic - that the Lebanese who immigrated to Colombia were Catholic? My best friend married a beautiful girl years ago. She was from Lebanon. She was as Catholic as you get. She even did her undergrad and post grad at Notre Dame in South Bend! Holy Mary Mother of God she is good looking.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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Miguel says on Sep 28, 2007, 22:55:

Significant amount of Muslim believers en la curramba.

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billyb says on Sep 28, 2007, 23:01:

RJ, most of the "Arabs" I know in Colombia, are christian, whether catholic, orthodox, maronite or any of a few other faiths.

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Robert Jorge says on Sep 28, 2007, 23:23:

Billyb, I believe that. A lot of people don't realize there are a lot of people who call themselves Arabic, but claim a denomination of Christianity. And even a pretty big chunk of the Israeli population is technically Arabic (racially), but are of Jewish faith. Anyway, I just figured Lebanese Catholics would feel welcome in a country like Colombia. Thus I would have bet an Aguila most people that have mid eastern heritage living in Colombia, would most likely be Christian - which obviously includes the Catholic faith ... arguably the original "Christianity."

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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SamGompers says on Oct 1, 2007, 07:47:

Thanks everyone for your feedback/info. And, Jaramillo - - that is a fantastic album page! It looks like a whole novel compressed into six photographs! It seems that the atlantic coast is the place to search out arabic influences - - architecturally and possibly culturally. I will add this project to my itinerary for my next trip to BAQ. Perhaps a photo essay of Arabisms in Barranquilla.

I suppose it's just some kind of cultural dynamic - - that when "we" look at other places, we tend to see homogeneous populations and cultures. (Abetted maybe by emigrants and exiles - - I can tell you how mythically "unified" New York Irish representations of Ireland are . . .) So - - always fascinating and educative to move beyond those initial views and discover the more unexpected diversities and differences within other places and peoples.

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