I have to admit that I’m subject to a virtual timer for visiting historical sites. I’m good for about two hours at a site or museum, at which point my brain is overcome with wonder and I can take no more. For big places, say the Louvre or Pompeii, I just have to walk away at some point and reset a little before taking on another serving.

The Medina al Zahra is one of those big places. It’s just outside Córdoba and dates to the time when Córdoba was evolving into one of the most important places in Spain and the Islamic world. Abd ar-Rahman III (890–961), the first Caliph of Córdoba, determined he needed a palace and center of government suited to the greatness of himself, of course, and Córdoba. Construction took place in the middle years of the 10th century. Excavation of the ruins commenced in 1911.

As ever, Wikipedia has distilled and footnoted all of this, so do check out a legitimate rundown on the Madinat al Zahra via everyone’s favorite latter-day encyclopedia.

For my part, over the course of my alloted 2 hours of operative attention span, I wandered the ruins, avoiding tourists speaking too many languages to count, snaking along the ruins’ shoulders past stalled clumps of school children like kiddo traffic jams, and patiently waited for vistas to clear completely of humans so I could get “the shot” with my phone camera. I suspect I covered about half the site in this fashion before the mental tank ran dry.

And, of course, I took a million photos. Good thing I have a filter for photo-sharing as I gather your attention span for photos is far less than two hours or however many hours it would take to look at the million photos I grabbed. But here you go, less than 20 shots. More later when I can tank up with another two hours’ of fresh attention for another visit. (Madinat al Zahra entrance fee waived for residents of Córdoba, wooo!)

¡Hasta la próxima… saludos!