The Alcazaba of Almería
Andalusia, Spain
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Alcazaba de Almería
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275
XP
+100 Spain
= 375 total
1 day
The Alcazaba of Almería
275 + 100 XP
Almería's Alcazaba is the second-largest Arab fortress built in the Iberian peninsula and one of the best-preserved citadels anywhere — three walled enclosures running along a ridge above the city and the sea. Abd al-Rahman III founded the place in the 10th century as a watchpost for Bayyana, modern Pechina, which is where the Arabic name Al-Mariyya Bayyana comes from. The first enclosure held cisterns and a garrison encampment, the second the palace, and the third is a late-medieval Christian castle with towers of the 15th and 16th centuries, added after the city fell. Nearly a thousand years of building means the place shows the whole evolution of civil and military architecture under al-Andalus in one walk.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Walk the three enclosures in order and work out that each one is from a different period
2
of 5
Find the Christian castle at the far end, added by the Catholic Monarchs on top of a Muslim fortress
3
of 5
Work out why it was built at all: a 10th-century watchpost for Pechina, which was then the town that mattered
4
of 5
Work out the chronology across the three enclosures — two Arab, one Christian of the 15th and 16th centuries
5
of 5
Look across at the Cerro de San Cristóbal opposite, with its own stretch of wall running up the hill
Walk the three enclosures in order and work out that each one is from a different period
Find the Christian castle at the far end, added by the Catholic Monarchs on top of a Muslim fortress
Work out why it was built at all: a 10th-century watchpost for Pechina, which was then the town that mattered
Work out the chronology across the three enclosures — two Arab, one Christian of the 15th and 16th centuries
Look across at the Cerro de San Cristóbal opposite, with its own stretch of wall running up the hill
Before you go
Fully exposed on the ridge with almost no shade — Almería summer heat here is severe.
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About Andalusia
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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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