Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos
TIME : 2016/2/22 14:03:18
Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos
Córdoba doesn't just have a Grand Mosque, but also a palace: the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. Once the site of a Visigoth fortress, it was ultimately rebuilt to house the caliphs of Córdoba, before being taken over by the Christians. Once in their hands, the palace was famously home to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel for eight years during the Spanish Inquisition. During that time, it was even visited by Christopher Columbus, who came to explain plans for his westward journey to the Catholic Kings.
The palace has gone through various rounds of re-buildings and modifications, with today's structure maintaining little of the Moorish one that stood before it. Even so, the present-day Alcázar still has a Moorish flavor, given the Múdejar style of design and architecture implemented under King Alfonso XI.
Since its time as a royal palace, it served as a prison, before ultimately being turned into a tourist attraction in the 1900s. Now, during a visit to the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, you can wander its premises, enclosed by a fortress of jagged-topped walls, punctuated by four towers. Most popular are the gardens, filled with palm trees, fish-filled ponds, cascading fountains, and statues of the famous Catholic Kings. Practical Info:
The Alcázar is located on the southwest side of the city, just north of the Guadalquiver River, and only a short walk away from the Grand Mosque. Entrance is free Tuesday through Friday, between the hours of 8:30 am and 10 am
