DAY 13 - BACK IN CORDOBA

We spent much of the day visiting the Madinat al-Zahra. Situated some 8 km to the West of Cordoba, special buses run each morning.  Madinat al-Zahra was a sumptuous palace built by Caliph Abd-al-Rahman in the 10th century and he was responsible for much of the development of the Mezquita in Cordoba.
Legend has it that he built Madinat al-Zahra for his wife who was homesick and yearned for the snowy mountains of Syria.  As a result he surrounded the area with almond and cherry trees this replacing snowflakes with fluffy white blossoms. Quite romantic.  Building began in 940 and 10,000 labourers toiled to build the outside wall which was 1518 metres by 745 metres.  The city containing the palace only lasted 35 years at which time it was wrecked by Berber soldiers and over the years the ruins have been plundered for building materials.  However, there is quite a bit left to see.  You arrive at the site at a very modern museum building where you can watch a video explaining just what you are about to see after a short bus ride to the site.  It was very busy but it was all handled with great efficiency.

There follows a sequence of photographs taken as we followed the signs around the site.

To view a larger image left click image once.  To return to the Blog use the Back Button or click once off the image







Two panoramic views over the site.  Remember to click on the images once to zoom









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