On the edge of Zaragoza, in northeastern Spain, a fortress of honey-colored stone hides an astonishing interior of horseshoe arches, carved plaster and interlacing ornament. The Aljafería is the finest surviving palace of the taifa period—the age of small Muslim kingdoms that fragmented al-Andalus in the 11th century—and the most important work of Islamic architecture in Spain outside Andalusia. Few buildings carry so many chapters of Spanish history in a single shell: Muslim pleasure palace, Christian royal residence, seat of the Inquisition, military barracks, and today the home of a modern parliament.
The palace was raised in the second half of the 11th century under the Banu Hud dynasty that ruled the Taifa of Zaragoza, above all during the reign of Al-Muqtadir, as a suburban residence for leisure—a “palace of joy.” Around a central courtyard with pools and gardens, its architects created delicate arcades and a small mosque whose mihrab survives. Its most famous room, the richly decorated hall later known in Spanish as a golden salon, shows the taste of a sophisticated court. One tower, the rectangular Torre del Trovador (Troubadour Tower), is older than the palace itself.
