Tag: ArcheologicalNational Museum

ISLAMIC HERITAGE OF SPAIN Discover Madrid Al Andalus Heritage Mageit the Muslims called the new city they  and this name was used until the 13th century when a new word - Madrid - appeared. The Majrit In the 9 century, the Umayyad emir Muhammad I seeking to fortify the Central Frontier  an strategically important region  against the northern Christian kingdoms—ordered the construction along the Manzanares River. It was named Majrīṭ, a name that possible derives from the Arabic word “mayra,” a reference to water as sustenance and a giver of life and the Ibero-Roman suffix “-it” meaning place. The fortress city  of Andalusī Majrīṭ consisted of the Alcazaba and the Al-Mudayna. The Alcazaba was fenced with a wall, with many gates, and included the palace, a mosque and other military and managerial offices. The entire settlement was enclosed by a fortified wall, but small residential settlements (an area known as al-rabaḍ or suburbs) sprung up beyond it and across the river. The residential area of Majrīṭ was known  as Al-Mudayna that mean “little city” in Arab. The city, with its streets and houses, grew naturally and without planning. This can be seen from the roads which lead from one to another, only to finish in a dead end. Such architecture was common place in medieval times, as can be seen in old Spanish towns, such as Toledo and some parts of Madrid. It can also be seen in the cities of North Africa, for example Fez. The southern part of Almudaina was a crowded residential area surrounded by a wall, some part of it, which extends to 120 m, have been repaired. Today the center of medieval Majrīṭ corresponds with the current location of the Royal Palace and the Almudena Cathedral, an area that formed the nucleus of the medieval Christian city of Madrid. Indeed the