Immortalizing, in the palace of the Aljaferia

Mudejar architecture of Aragón
UNESCO logo.svg Welterbe.svg
World Heritage of Unesco
Aljafería2.JPG
View of the Palace of La Aljafería in Zaragoza
SpainLoc.svg Palace of the Aljafería
Coordinates 41 ° 39'23 "N 0 ° 53'48" OCoordinates: 41 ° 39'23 "N 0 ° 53'48" W (map)
Country Flag of Spain.svg Spain
Cultural type
Criteria iv
Identification No. 378
Europe and North America Region
Year of registration 1986 (X session)
Year of extension 2001
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The Aljafería is a fortified palace built in Zaragoza in the second half of the eleventh century on the initiative of Al-Muqtadir as the residence of the kings of Saraqusta. This recreational palace (called then "Qasr al-Surur" or Palace of Happiness) reflects the splendor reached by the Taifa kingdom in the period of its maximum political and cultural heyday.

Its importance lies in the fact that it is the only preserved testimony of a large building of Hispanic Islamic architecture from the time of the Taifas. So, if you keep a magnificent example of the Caliphate of Cordoba, its Mezquita (10th century), and another one of the swan song of the Islamic culture in Al-Andalus, from the 14th century, the Alhambra of Granada, it should be included in the triad of the Hispano-Muslim architecture La Aljafería de Zaragoza (11th century) as a sample of the realizations of Taifa art, intermediate period of independent kingdoms prior to the arrival of the Almoravids. The Mudejar remains of the palace of the Aljafería were declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2001 as part of the ensemble «Mudejar Architecture of Aragon» .1

The solutions adopted in the ornamentation of the Aljafería, such as the use of mixtilinear arches and of the "S" bricks, the extension of the ataurique set in large surfaces or the schematization and progressive abstraction of the plaster of a vegetal nature, decisively influenced the Almoravid and Almohad art both from the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula. Likewise, the transition of decoration towards more geometric motifs is at the base of Nasrid art.

After the reconquest of Zaragoza in 1118 by Alfonso I the Battler became the residence of the Christian kings of Aragon, with which the Aljafería became the main diffusing focus of the Aragonese Mudejar. It was used as a royal residence by Pedro IV the Ceremonious (1319-1387) and later, on the main floor, the reform was carried out that converted these rooms into the Palace of the Catholic Monarchs in 1492. In 1593 he underwent another reform that would convert it in military fortress, first according to Renaissance designs (that today can be observed in its surroundings, moat and gardens) and later as quartering of military regiments. It underwent continuous reforms and great damages, especially with the Sites of Zaragoza of the War of Independence until finally it was restored in the second half of the 20th century and currently hosts the Cortes of Aragón.

In its origin the construction was done extrawalls of the Roman wall, in the plain of the saría or place where the Muslims developed the military boasts known as La Almozara. With the urban expansion through the years, the building has remained inside the city. It has been possible to respect a small garden environment around it.

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