There is no more fitting monument to the achievement, ambition, and ultimate collapse of the Western Caliphate than the ruins of the Medina Azahara, the palace complex built by Abdurrahman III seven kilometers from Cordoba between 936 and his death in 961. Abdurrahman ordered the massive complex' construction, according to legend, in order to please his favorite wife (or concubine, stories vary) Azahara and quite literally spared no expense in his effort to create a garden of earthly delights. Although medieval chroniclers were fond of exaggerating their patrons' wealth and influence, the Medina's remains are certainly extensive enough to give credence to their claim that a third of the caliphate's annual budget was spent on its construction, which apparently involved the employment of 10,000 workers and a further 1,500 beasts of burden. The Medina was no mere pleasure-dome, however, but a working regnal complex along the lines of Louis XIV's Versailles, opulently furnished to impress both courtiers and foreign emissaries alike. In its brief heyday it stretched a full kilometer from a rocky outcrop to the banks of the Guadalquivir, incorporating three terraces, a zoo, aviary, and separate villages for both the garrison and the civilian employees. The putative locations of these sights are marked on the complimentary photocopied map provided in each major European language at the entrance, although unfortunately the room studded with pure crystals that turned sunlight into a rainbow described by chroniclers is nowhere to be found. Indeed, these ruins are primarily just that, although painted horseshoe arches similar to those inside the Mezquita and fairly well-kept gardens reflect the reconstruction program the Spanish government has recently commenced.
The site's sole reconstructed (using the term loosely) building of any size is the Royal House whose stuccowork, while fragmentary, is mesmerizing in part because it incorporates natural and even animal forms, the latter in apparent violation of the Koran, in contrast to the more literalist decorations within the Mezquita and Granada's Alhambra. This beauty may have been the artists' undoing, however, as it likely served to further incite the mobs and Berber mercenaries who ransacked the palace in the early eleventh century as the Cordoban Caliphate disintegrated into a collection of autonomous taifas. The Medina Azahara's demise prior to the Catholic Reconquista meant that it was not retrofitted for Christian use as the Mezquita and Alhambra were, although its ruins were ransacked as a source for building materials – with Seville's Alcazar (Europe's oldest continuously used royal palace), the most famous and perhaps appropriate recipient of its stones.
There is limited parking at the Medina Azahara, which is signposted from CÃ⊃;rdoba. The best way to get there, however, is by buses that leave from beside the River Guadalquivir at 10 am and 11 am. Costing €5, they provide an informative DVD presentationen route and a glossy informational booklet that is a welcome addendum to the photocopied map of the site provided at the entrance. Admission to the site is free to EU citizens and €1.50 for others.