cherry trees, replacing snowflakes with fluffy white blossoms; it might have been easier to move. More realistically, it was probably the case that Abd al-Rahman’s rivalry with the Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad drove him to build an opulent royal complex
outside Córdoba, with commanding views across the valley and to the city itself. Building started in AD 936 and chroniclers record some staggering construction statistics: 10,000 labourers set 6,000 stone blocks a day,
with outer walls extending 1,518m west to east and 745m north to south. The best of materials were used, with marbles, precious metals, tiles, and polychrome tiles amongst them.
The complex's famous Salon Rico was renowned for its outstanding beauty with ivory and ebony archways, gold and precious stones, and a bowl of mercury that caught the sun's rays and reflected them in a thousand different colours.
It is almost inconceivable to think that such a city, built over 40 years, was only to last a mere 30 more before the usurper Al-Mansur transferred the seat of government to a new palace complex of his own in AD 981 (maybe it was all of that mercury vapour made him mad as a hatter - look it up if you don't know). Then, between 1010 and 1013, it was wrecked by Berber soldiers. During succeeding centuries its ruins were plundered
repeatedly for building materials. Only around one-tenth of the site has been excavated to date; and only about half of that (so 5% of the total site) is open to the public.
The site deserves a good couple of hours (including the museum, and the introductory video), so including the
bus ride to and from the site (departing Cordoba at 10:15am, returning about 2:00pm), it's the best part of a day; and a good day at that!
The following gallery is all from around the site, so there's no need for captions I dare say:
this grandiose edifice was built in the 13th century, and rebuilt in the Gothic-Mudejar style in the 15th; it boasts one of the most beautiful towers to be found among the Fernandine churches, with a polygonal structure built on the site of a Moorish minaret.