The Caliphate of Córdoba: Madinat al-Zahra

Today I had only one thing on my mind: Madinat al-Zahra, the magnificent Moorish Versailles that lies in ruins 8 I'm outside Córdoba. In addition to the famous Mezquita-Catedral, this little gem of history was my reason for coming to Córdoba. It was built over a ten year period in the 930s and 940s by the Umayyed caliph Abd ar Rahmad III as the seat of his government and private residences, by an entire city also sprang up around the palaces. It was unfortunately sacked by Berber armies in 1011, and then subsequently dismantled by people in need of building supplies looked for the next several hundred yeas. Archaeologists starts excavations in 1912, and have so far only excavated around 12% of the palace complexes, which is just a fraction of the whole city.

It was a pain to get to, since you had to take a public bus (no taxis out there) for which you needed to buy a ticket ahead of time. Since Saturday was all sold out, I figured I'd stay an extra half day in Córdoba and go today; it was most definitely worth it. The site had a really incredible museum attached to it, with all sorts of interactive displays and 3D renderings of the complex, in addition to a bunch of household items recovered from the site. After seeing that I took a shuttle to the actual ruins. The complex was built up the hillside, leading to straccated levels of terrain corresponding to various social classes or functions. That being said, it all involved a fair amount of hiking. Some of the buildings had been partially reconstructed, so it reminded me a lot of Karnak Temple in Egypt, but it was easy to imagine how parts of the city would've looked in their glory days. Got a lot of good pictures here that hopefully I'll be able to upload soon.




After Madinat al-Zahra, I didn't really do anything until my train to Granada that evening. I just hung out over lunch, trying Cordoban meat balls, and then coming across another surprise procession and marching band coming out of the Mezquita for Easter Sunday. On to Granada and the Alhambra! Little did I know I was checking into one of the world's most ghetto hostels, with no lockers, doubtful hot water, and no milk in the morning when the breakfast offered is cereal and toast. Haha. This is what I get for being so cheap and booking whatever costs the least on HostelWorld.