The remains of a medieval Muslim dynastic town in Spain have been made a World Heritage site by the United Nation’s cultural body UNESCO.
Medina Azahara, near the Spanish city of Cordoba, is a 10th-century Umayyad site which UNESCO says provides “in-depth knowledge of the now vanished Western Islamic civilisation of Al-Andalus, at the height of its splendour.”
After prospering for centuries, the magnificent palace-city, which was the de facto capital of Al-Andalus, or Islamic Spain, “was laid to waste during the civil war that put an end to the Caliphate in 1009-10,” the UNESCO committee said in a statement.
The city was built as a symbol of power to rival the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad, but lasted less than a century before it was destroyed in an uprising, which ended the Umayyad caliphate at the beginning of the 11th century.
The remains of the city were forgotten for almost a thousand years until their rediscovery in the early 20th century.
The site is a treasure trove for archaeologists, presenting “a complete urban ensemble” including roads, bridges, water systems, buildings, decorative elements and everyday objects, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation said.
Add your comments below
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
