A+ A-

Cordoba's Medina Azahara ... part of global humanitarian heritage

Cordoba's history has architectural monuments and glories made by Muslims in Andalusia
Cordoba's history has architectural monuments and glories made by Muslims in Andalusia

By Hanadi Watfa

MADRID, July 19 (KUNA) -- Cordoba's history has architectural monuments and glories made by Muslims in Andalusia that helped the city have prestigious humanitarian, historical and cultural status, which is consistent with the glorious era.
After an old glory, Medina Azahara, which is a pearl of Cordoba and the unique architectural site, has been in the spotlight after the 42nd session of UNESCO'S World Heritage Committee held in Bahrain earlier this month had added Medina to the World Heritage List.
Cordoba is the only place in the world, which has four areas with this prestigious UNESCO status.
Spain also has 47 sites on the World Heritage List; some 41 sites are cultural, four are natural and two are mixed. Andalusia owns 13 sites, including Cordoba mosque and Alhambra palace.
Adding Medina Azahara to the World Heritage List had a positive and tangible impact as the city received 6,314 visitors in a week, an increase of 107 compared with 2017, after the committee's announcement.
It is expected that the city will receive more than 20,000 visitors by the end of this month to be a record number in history.
Medina Azahara is an archaeological site built in 936 CE in the era of the eighth Umayyed Caliph Abdulrahman bin Mohammad bin Abdullah as the headquarters of the Caliphate of Cordoba. The city lasted for 40 years, the era of Abdulrahman and his son Al-Hakam, until Calipha Al-Mansour bin Amer took power after that he built another city.
Medina Azahara was destroyed afterwards, and remained hidden until it was rediscovered in the early 20th century.
The city has been sustained to acts of looting and destruction in 1010 by the Berbers during the civil war, which ended the Caliphate, and become rubble until the rediscovery in the last century.
There is a common opinion that Medina Azahara was a peerless city on earth; its palace was a unique architectural masterpiece. Its wall was covered with marble and gold, and surrounded by gracious antiques manufactured by pearls and studded with precious gems.
Medina Azahara was described as a great city, which was designed with three areas; the first included the palace of the Caliph, the second for palaces of princes and chiefs of guards, the last had the mosque, and guards and soldiers' houses. The city contained gardens with waterfalls that were the largest in Andalusia at that time.
Medina had a prominent status in Andalusia's history and culture as well as poets who wrote poems depicting the beauty and charming places in the city.
After a century of excavation, the rubble of Medina Azahara has mirrored the architectural innovation, excellency and welfare in building the unique city in Europe and in the history of Islamic culture. (end) hnd.hm