Al-Andalus lasted nearly eight centuries, beginning with the Umayyad invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 AD and ending with the surrender of the Alhambra in Granada in 1492. This History Hit film traces that arc through Cordoba's rise as a center of learning and architecture, the palm groves and irrigation systems Muslim settlers brought from North Africa and the Middle East, and the fortresses and palaces that still stand across southern Spain. Expert commentary walks through how Islamic rule reshaped the peninsula's cities, agriculture, and intellectual life, and how that culture eventually receded under Christian reconquest. Aerial footage of surviving sites, including the Alhambra's palace complex, anchors the narration in the physical remains rather than just the political timeline. The film moves period by period rather than dwelling on one dynasty, giving a compressed but coherent account of a Muslim kingdom that once ranked among Europe's most advanced societies before its final collapse.