In 936 CE, Abdur Rahman III decided his new caliphjate needed a new capital, and duly had one built 8km west of Cordoba at the foot of the Sierra Morena. Recordfs state that 10,000 labourers worked on its construction, setting 6,000 stone blocks a day, and by 945 the caliph was able to install himself and his retinue. Stretching 1.5km from east to west and 700 m north to south, the new city was called Medinah Az-Zahrah, after Abdur Rahman’s wife, Azaharah. It was undoubtedly a magnificent place, though the chronicler who wrote that the fish in its ponds ate 12,000 loafs of bread a day should no doubt be taken with a pinch of salt.

Medinah Az-Zahrah’s glory was short lived, Al-Mansour transferred the seat of government to a new palace complex of his own, east of the city, in 981. Then, between 1010 and 1013, Medinah Az-Zaharah was wrecked by Berber soldiers who occupied it during the anarchic collapse of the caliphate. Over succeeding centuries its ruins were plundered repeatedly for building materials.

Today the city lies as a tourist attraction in ruins with less then one tenth of the city having been excavated.

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