Medina Azahara: Guided Tour

Channel your inner Indiana Jones and explore over 1000 years of history in this magnificent palace-city, built by Caliph Abd ar-Rahman III in the 10th century. Your guide will teach you all about the rise and fall of this abandoned fortress, in an adventure that takes you back to the heyday of the Caliphate of Córdoba.

Legend has it that Abd ar-Rahman III built the Medina Azahara as a gift for his wife surrounding it with blossoming cherry trees to soothe her homesickness for snowy Syria. More likely, it was built as a show of wealth and power, a new capital to strengthen the Caliph's rule.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't last long, and the city was ransacked by marauding Berbers just 70 years after its completion. Now, the ruins offer a fascinating snapshot of a forgotten era, with the central palace and mosque excavated, alongside aristocratic residences, administrative buildings and service quarters.

Plus the onsite museum explores the lives of the thousands of people who lived there.