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In this post, I will be starting a new series of photos from the city of Córdoba, Spain. Regarding my series about the Cathedral of Córdoba, I will continue this series. I am also taking a week to go through my photos and finalize the remaining photos from this amazing building.
The city of Córdoba has a rich history, especially with its role during the Moorish occupation of Spain. Before it`s conquest by the Christian kings, this city was the capital of the powerful Caliphate of Córdoba. A tourism website from Córdoba describes the Madinat al-Zahra in this way:
"We are in the year 400 of the Hegira, 1010 of our era. On the southern slopes of Jebel al-Arus, the Bride's Mountain, the marble, jasper and precious metals of the city of Madinat al-Zahra gleam in the morning sun among silver-leafed olive groves
Bronze griffins, lions and horses pour mountain water into thousands of marble fountains. In the shade of cypresses and palm trees and around huge reception halls, dream gardens form multi-coloured carpets, mixing myrtle and rosemary, oleanders and tuberoses, lilies and roses. From the caliph's palace, located on the highest of the three terraces, the view extends over the whole Wadi al-Kabir valley and, in the far distance, five kilometres to the east, the large city of Cordoba can be seen.
But today the scene lacks the usual movement of thousands of civil servants who, until recently, controlled the whole of the administration of Muslim Spain. Succession in the caliphate is not clear and al-Zahra is deeply involved in the violence of a civil war. The city is occupied by rebellious troops of Berber mercenaries. Soldiers camp out in the plush reception halls. Their horses drink from the marble fountains. But they are not going to enjoy the luxuries of palace life for very long. A mob has come from nearby Cordoba and bellows at the gates of the forbidden city claiming their share of the booty. It is not long before the troops react. The first spark ignites. What the fire did not burn at the time was systematically plundered during the course of the following centuries by the Muslims themselves and then by the Christians. In the fifteenth century, Madinat al-Zahra lost even the memory of its name when it came to be called 'Cordoba la Vieja' (the Old Cordoba). Little by little, the ruins became buried under the mud which winter rains dragged from the mountainside. The more time passed, the more scholars developed serious doubts about the texts which spoke of its splendour, deeming them to be mere products of the imagination of their authors. When the first excavations began in 1910, only a few visible stones were left. In 936 of the Christian era, a few years after Abd al-Rahman 111 had proclaimed himself caliph, he decided to establish a prudent distance between the court and the turbulent population of the Cordobese capital. In the region west of the city where traditionally the mighty had established their country houses since Roman times, he founded a town which would eventually represent the very centre of power.
It took Abd al-Rahman twenty-five years to build Madinat al-Zahra. The city existed for merely sixty-five years. For nine centuries it slept, forgotten beneath a hard dirt cover. Following eighty years of restoration work, about one tenth of the medina has been excavated, representing one third of the upper terrace: the noble part which houses the alcazar with the caliph's palace and the most important dignitaries' houses, together with the government bodies and military buildings. On the middle terrace, only the mosque has been excavated. The souk was also at this level, together with many gardens with pools, fountains and cages housing wild animals and exotic birds. The lower terrace was devoted to infantry and cavalry housing.
To visit Madinat al-Zahra today does not mean entering an archaeological site where imagination has to make up for lack of volume. In al-Zahra, the huge amount of fragments found over many years of excavation made the experts seriously consider the question of how to present them. A museum would have meant metres and metres of display cabinets. Finally, it was decided to assemble the pieces of each palace over huge models at a scale of 1:1. This enable today's visitors to perfectly visualise the setting for the tales of chroniclers and poets of the caliphate's time."
(http://www.andalucia.com/magazine/english/ed4/madinat.htm)
Enjoy the photos below.
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