On a hillside outside of Córdoba stand the ruins of the palace of Abd al-Rahman III, the Madinat (Medina) al-Zahra. Arab historians reported that Abd al-Rahman built the palace-city for his wife Zahra. It is more likely, however, that the construction of the new city was part of the political propaganda surrounding Abd al-Rahman's declaration of an independent caliphate in Córdoba.
The palace-city covered several hundred acres, only a tenth of which has been excavated. Most of the archaeological work has been done on the palace itself, and many of the gardens were replanted in the 1960s. The throne room has been entirely reconstructed, but was largely closed for restoration while we were there.
This is a very impressive site. Most of the guidebooks underrate this place. It is surrounded with several small archaeological sites from the Roman and Caliphate period. One could spend days exploring these outskirts of Córdoba.
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