Madīnat al-Zahrā’
The palatine city of Madīnat al-Zahrā ‘was built between 936 and 940 by the caliph ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III as his official residence and the seat of the State administration. It was also constituted as a space of self-representation as well as a symbol of the Umayyad Caliphate and its significance and independence from the Eastern Caliphates. However, the medina barely survived a few decades since after the outbreak of the fitna, around the year 1009, the site was destroyed and looted.
The city adopted a rectangular shape and reached dimensions between the 1500 m in east-west direction and around 750 m from north to south. It was located a few kilometres from Cordoba on a rocky ledge at the foot of Sierra Morena mountains, a strategic enclave from which the Guadalquivir valley could be controlled and that allowed a hierarchical program of constructions in different terraces. The implementation of Madīnat al-Zahrā in the territory also provoked the creation of a series of roads and hydraulic infrastructures around it.
Although the excavated parts of the city only represent the 10 per cent of the urban space, it is well-known that the medina occupied a great lower plain, where non-built sectors existed. The only spaces constructed on this level were two broad strips, one to the west and another to the east; the Great Mosque were erected next to the last one.
The palace or Citadel (Alcazar) was located in the two upper terraces, in a prominent position over the rest of the medina. The palace had two distinct sectors: 1) a private zone, occupied by the residence of the caliph at the highest point (Dār al-Mulk), service areas and houses of figures related to the court like Ŷa’far; and 2) an official sector, with halls for receptions and other official acts, including the one known as the Reception Hall of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III or the Oriental Hall.
Bibliography
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