The Aljafería: The Missing Piece of Hispano-Muslim Spain
Aragon, Spain
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Aljafería
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275
XP
+100 Spain
= 375 total
1 day
The Aljafería: The Missing Piece of Hispano-Muslim Spain
275 + 100 XP
Everyone knows the Mezquita of Córdoba and the Alhambra. Between them, chronologically and architecturally, sits the Aljafería — built in Zaragoza between 1065 and 1081 by al-Muqtádir of the Banu Hud as a pleasure palace called Qasr al-Surur, the Palace of Joy. It is the only great Hispano-Muslim building of the taifa period to survive anywhere, which makes it the third member of a set of three, not a lesser also-ran. Alfonso I took Zaragoza in 1118 and the Christian kings of Aragon moved in, turning it into the fountainhead of Aragonese Mudéjar; the Catholic Monarchs built a palace on top of it in 1492. UNESCO listed its Mudéjar remains in 1986.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Work out where it sits: 10th-century Córdoba, 11th-century Zaragoza, 14th-century Granada — and this is the only taifa palace left
2
of 5
Find the Salón Dorado, the throne room al-Muqtádir named himself, and the small private mosque beside its portico
3
of 5
Find the Mudéjar work the Christian kings of Aragon added after 1118, and see how directly it grew out of what was already there
4
of 5
Go up to the palace the Catholic Monarchs built on the upper floor in 1492, which cost the taifa arches below their crowns
5
of 5
Work out that the building is still in use — the Cortes de Aragón, the regional parliament, sit in it
Work out where it sits: 10th-century Córdoba, 11th-century Zaragoza, 14th-century Granada — and this is the only taifa palace left
Find the Salón Dorado, the throne room al-Muqtádir named himself, and the small private mosque beside its portico
Find the Mudéjar work the Christian kings of Aragon added after 1118, and see how directly it grew out of what was already there
Go up to the palace the Catholic Monarchs built on the upper floor in 1492, which cost the taifa arches below their crowns
Work out that the building is still in use — the Cortes de Aragón, the regional parliament, sit in it
Before you go
Closed or restricted when the Aragonese parliament is sitting — check before going.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
275 XP
Spain country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
375 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in Spain.
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