Madinat al-Zahra: Difference between revisions

Al madinah Azahara: Drawing Room of Abd al-Rahman III

House of House of Ya'far

Mezquita (mosque) Aljama

Pórtico de Medina Azahara

Medina Azahara (Arabic: المدينهُ الزهراء Madīnat al-Zahrā "the city of Zahra") was an Arab Muslim medieval courtly-palace set to built by Abd-ar-Rahman III (Abd al-Rahman III, al-Nasir) located about 5 kilometers on the outskirts of Córdoba, Spain in the west.

The main reasons for its construction was politico-ideological: the dignity of the Caliph requires the establishment of a new city, symbol of his power, at imitation of other Eastern Caliphates and above all, to show his superiority over his great enemies, the Fatimids of Ifriqiya, in Northern Africa. In addition to political opponents, they were also in religion, as the Fatimids, Shiites, were enemies of the Umayyad Islamic, mainly in Sunni branch.

Popular culture also says it was built as a tribute to the favourite of the Caliph: Azahara.

Its ruins were excavated starting from the 1910s. Only about 10 percent of the 112 hectares have been excavated and restored.

Set of Madinat al-Zahra

Located about 8 miles west of Córdoba in the foothills of Sierra Morena, on the slopes of Jabal al-Arus ("Bride's mountain" or "Girlfriend's mountain range"), facing the valley of the Guadalquivir river and oriented north to south on a spur of the mountain, between two ravines, which goes into the countryside is Medina Azahara or Madinat al-Zahra, billed as the Versailles of the Middle Ages. Was chosen for the outstanding landscape values, thus allowing a hierarchical construction program, so that the city and the plains extended its feet were physically and visually dominated by the buildings of the Alcázar. Its presence in the territory led to a road network and water and supply infrastructure for its construction partly preserved until today in the form of remains of roads, quarries, aqueducts, almunias and bridges (some complete as of Nogales).

Fully advantaging the uneven terrain, the palace city of Medina Azahara was distributed in three terraces, the site of the city adopts a rectangular shape (an area of 112 hectares)-against the idea labyrinthine and chaotic typical of the Muslim urbanism- with 1500 m per side from east to west and about 750 m from north to south, just warped on the north side by the need to adapt to the difficult topography of the terrain. The topography played a decisive role in shaping the city. Its location on the foothills of Sierra Morena possible to design an urban program in which the location and the physical relationship between the various construction was expressive of the role of each in the set which includes: the palace is located in the higher, staggering its buildings by the side of the mountain, in a situation of clear preeminence over the urban hamlets and the Aljama Mosque, spread across the plain. Following the provision of terraced find that the first corresponds to the residential area of the caliph, followed by the official area (House of the viziers, the guard-room Rico, administrative offices, gardens ...) to eventually house the city proper that (housing, crafts ...) and the great mosque of the two terraces separated by another wall above specific to isolate the whole palate. Archaeological research has revealed an urban morphology characterized by the existence of large areas of undeveloped land, which correspond to empty the entire southern front of the Alcazar, ensuring your privacy and maintaining your open visual landscape of the countryside creating a landscape idyllic. In fact, the only spaces built at the lower level are two broad bands extreme: the Western, with an urban management orthogonal, and the eastern, with a less rigid planning.

History

The city, which flourished for approximately 80 years, was built by caliph Abd ar-Rahman III of Córdoba starting between 936 and 940. After he had proclaimed himself caliph in 928, establishing the independent Umayyad Caliphate in the west, he decided to show his subjects and the world his power by building a palace-city 5 km from Córdoba. The largest known city built from scratch in Western Europe, it would be described by travelers from northern Europe and from the East as a dazzling series of palaces full of treasures never seen before. Around 1010, Madinat al-Zahra was sacked during the civil war that led to the dissolution of the Caliphate of Cordoba. The raid effectively wiped the city off the map for a millennium.

Popular legend holds that the Caliph named al-Zahra, or Azahara, after his favorite concubine, and that a statue of a woman stood over the entrance. Others, imagining his demanding lover, say that he built this new city just to please her. The truth, however, has probably more to do with politics than love. Abd ar-Rahman III ordered the construction of this city at a time when he had just finished consolidating his political power in the Iberian Peninsula and was entering into conflict with the Fatimid dynasty for the control of North Africa. Zahara means 'shining, radiant or blossoming' in Arabic: the name communicates aspirations of power and status, not romantic love. Al-Zahra is the most common title for the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad Fatimah al-Zahra. As such, the Fatimid dynasty of North Africa adorned many buildings and even towns with her name. A female scholar in her own right, her title al-Zahra (the brilliant) was given to the oldest functioning university in the world, the al-Az'har/al-Azhar university in Cairo in AD 968, built by the Fatimids. The Umayyads' ambitions in North Africa could well explain the usage of the name for the new city to rival the Fatimids' influence there through Islamic/ religious iconography.

In 929 Abd al-Rahman III declared himself utterly independent, the true Caliph (Prince of Believers) and descendant of the Umayyad dynasty, which had nearly been completely exterminated by the Abbasids in the 9th century. He brought about a series of political, economic and ideological measures to impress his legitimacy upon the world. A new capital city, fitting of his status, was one of those measures. He decided to build the city in 936 and construction took about forty years. The Mosque on the site was consecrated in 941 and in 947 the government was transferred from Córdoba.

In 2005 it was described by the American newspaper The New York Times as follows:

Teeming with treasures that dazzled the most jaded traveler or world—weary aristocrat...Pools of mercury could be shaken to spray beams of reflected sunlight across marble walls and ceilings of gold... Doors carved of ivory and ebony led to sprawling gardens full of exotic animals and sculptures made of amber and pearls..."

What is visible of the ruins of Madinat al-Zahra today is only 10% of its extent. The 112 hectare-urb was no mere pleasure palace for weekend excursions, but the effective capital of al-Andalus, the territory controlled by the Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula from the beginning of the 8th century to the middle of the 11th. The magnificent white city, built in steps into the hillside at the base of the Sierra Morena with the Caliph's palace at the highest point, was designed to be seen by his subjects and foreign ambassadors for kilometers. Abd ar-Rahman III moved his entire court to Medina Azahara in 947-48.

With time the entire city was buried, not to be unearthed until 1911. Excavation and restoration continues, depending upon funding by the Spanish government. The unexcavated portion, however, is threatened by the illegal construction of housing. According to the New York Times, "The local government in Córdoba, he said, has failed to enforce a law passed 10 years ago that expanded protections for the site against development... Construction companies are putting up houses on the site of the city, 90 percent of which remains unexcavated."

Artistically, the Medina Azahara played a great role in formulating a distinct Andalusian Islamic architecture. Many of its features, such as basilical royal reception halls (as contrasted with domed ones in the eastern part of the Islamic world) are here conceived for the first time. Other features, such as the arranging of the suites of rooms around a central courtyard or garden, are echoed throughout western Islamic architecture, for example as late as in the Alhambra. The Mosque of Medina Azahara bears close resemblance to the Great Mosque of Córdoba; it has been called its "little sister"

References

• Barrucand, Marianne (2002). Moorish Architecture in Andalusia. Taschen. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• Madinat al-Zahra by art historians (english)
• Madinat al-Zahra by art historians (spanish)
• The Shining City: Qatar Visitor