AL Madina AL Zaharaa' - Cordoba, Spain


AL Madina AL Azaharais the ruins of a vast, fortified Arab Muslim medieval palace-city built by Abd-ar-Rahman III al-Nasir, and located on the western outskirts of Córdoba, Spain. Built beginning in 996, the city included ceremonial reception halls, mosques, gardens, a mint, workshops, barracks, residences, and baths. Water was supplied through aqueducts.

The main reason for its construction was the dignity of the Caliph required the establishment of a new city, a symbol of his power, imitating other Eastern Caliphates.

Located 8 miles west of Córdoba in the foothills of the Sierra Morena, oriented north-to-south on the slopes of Jabal al-Arus, and facing the valley of the Guadalquivir river, is Madinat al-Zahra, billed as the Versailles of the Middle Ages.
It was chosen for its outstanding landscape values, allowing a hierarchical construction program so the city and the plains beyond its feet were physically and visually dominated by the buildings of the fortress. Its construction led to a road, water and supply infrastructure partly preserved until today in the form of remains of roads, quarries, aqueducts and bridges.

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