Medina Azahara

He decided to establish his palace and government outside the capital of Cordoba which was in turbulent times. This was the era of Christian takeover across the peninsular.

Al-Rahman chose the area which had since Roman times been the chosen spot of powerful rulers, with views across the Guadalquivir valley to the city of Cordoba and with its elevation bringing welcome cooling breezes in the summer heat.

The city was only in use for seventy years, in that time thousands of administrators governed the Muslim controlled parts of Spain.

When the city began to be excavated in 1910 very little of it was visible. The most incredible part of the whole complex is the Salon de Abd al-Rahman III, the presidential suite and courts that oversaw the running of the empire, on which restauration began in 1949 using materials uncovered on the site.

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