Madinat al-Zahra

Madinat al-Zahra, also known as Medina Azahara, was a fortified palace city built in the tenth century near Cordoba, in present-day Spain, by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Rahman III as the new administrative capital of the Caliphate of Cordoba. It was constructed on a monumental scale with palaces, gardens, a mosque and government buildings terraced across a hillside, reflecting the wealth and ambition of the Andalusian caliphate at its height. The city was sacked and largely abandoned during civil conflict in the early eleventh century, and its extensively excavated ruins are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.