LEGENDS OF MEDINA AZAHARA. Pimentel, Manuel

Abderramán III, the powerful caliph, ordered the construction of Medina Azahara on the slopes of Sierra Morena, near Córdoba. Work began in 936 and the caliphal court moved in 945. The legend of one of the most beautiful cities ever built, to the amazement of locals and strangers, began, which was known in its time as "the pearl of Al Andalus." His life was as intense as it was ephemeral, since it would be destroyed in 1013 during the fierce Cordoba civil war that would put an end to the caliphate. The city died, the eternal myth was born.

The powerful Abd al-Rahman III, the cult Al Hakam II and the weak Hixam II lived in Medina Azahara. The stories of Medina Azahara went down in the chronicles and became beautiful legends: rich embassies from distant kingdoms bowed before the caliph in the splendid Throne Room while the Jewish court doctor cured the king of León Sancho of his obesity. the Crassus; mythical libraries; hidden treasures; immortal loves that covered the mountains of Córdoba with snow; poets and artists; magicians and astrologers; merciless wars and cruel executioners; sensuality and enjoyment; poisons and theriacs; monks and warriors make up a rosary of stories that show the exciting life of the city from its conception to its violent destruction, as well as the faded memory of it until in the last century archeology rescued it from oblivion for our enjoyment and admiration.