Księga podróży Beniamina z Tudeli z końca XII wieku

The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela throws a flashlight upon one of the most interesting stages in the development of European and Muslim nations. Rabbi Benjamin visited many cities, towns, villages, regions and countries, travelling ca. 3 years. He visited Rome and South Italy, traversed Greece and came to Constantinople. Then he passed on to Antioch and followed the well-known southern route skirting the Mediterranean, visiting Palestine, Syria, Persia, Central Asia, Northern Africa and returning in 1173 to his native Spain. His account on the struggles between Christians and Muslims may serve as an important source of information to indicate the revival of Islam, which took place between the Second and Third Crusades. Benjamin was always trying to find a Jewish community, however the most prosperous ones in Germany and the Jewish congregations that lay along the route to Palestine had been exterminated or dispersed at his time.