Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos - Cordoba
N 37° 52.606 W 004° 46.919
30S E 343278 N 4193638
The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos is a medieval fortress located in Córdoba, Spain. The Alcázar takes its name from the Christian Monarchs: Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. The fortress served as one of their primary residences.
Waymark Code: WM2KQC
Location: Spain
Date Posted: 11/17/2007
Views: 49
While the Alcázar displays Islamic features, almost all of the structure was built under Christian rule. Originally the Visigoths had a fortress on the site. When the Visigoths fell to the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, the emirs of the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus rebuilt the structure. The Umayyad's fell to the Abbasid Caliphate and the surviving member of the Umayyad Dynasty, Abd ar-Rahman I, fled to Córdoba. Abd ar-Rahman I's successors established the independent Caliphate of Cordoba and used the Alcázar as their palace. During Al-Andalus, the city flourished as an important political and cultural center while much of Europe was in the Dark Age. The Moors expanded the Alcázar to a very large compound with baths, gardens, and the largest library in the West. Watermills on the nearby Guadalquivir powered water lifting to irrigate the extensive gardens. These mills ran until Queen Isabella complained that they made too much noise and kept her awake.
In 1236, Christian forces took Córdoba during the Reconquista. In 1386, Alfonso XI of Castile began building the present day structure on part of the site of the old fortress. Alfonso's structure retained only part of the Moorish ruins but the structure appears Islamic since Alfonso used the Mudéjar style.
Isabella and her husband Ferdinand used the Alcázar for one of the first permanent tribunals of the Spanish Inquisition and as a headquarters for their campaign against the Nasrid dynasty in Granada, the last remaining Moorish kingdom in Spain. The Inquisition began using the Alcázar as one of its headquarters in 1482, converting much of it, including the Arab baths, into torture and interrogation chambers. The Inquisition maintained a tribunal here for three centuries. Boabdil was held prisoner here in 1483 until he promised to make Granada a tributary state. When Boabdil refused to surrender his kingdom in 1489, the Spanish launched an attack. Isabella and Ferdinand's campaign against Granada succeeded in 1492. The same year, the monarchs met Christopher Columbus in the Alcázar as he prepared to take his first voyage to the Americas.
(text taken from wikipedia)
Accessibility: Partial access
Condition: Intact
Admission Charge?: yes
Website: [Web Link]
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