Aljafería Palace: History, Architecture & Significance
Aljafería Palace
History
The Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza was built between 1047 and 1081 by Abu Jafar Al-Muqtadir, a monarch of the Banu Hud dynasty. Originally named Qars Al-Surur (Citadel of Joy), the palace’s current name derives from Al-Muqtadir’s name. Following the Christian reconquest of Zaragoza in 1118, the Aljafería was converted into a Christian church, undergoing significant alterations. Today, it serves as the seat of the Aragonese Cortes, having undergone further modifications.
Architectural Influences
Influenced by Umayyad desert palaces in Syria and Jordan, the Aljafería served as a temporary residence or retreat. Its fortified square structure features round towers at the corners and reinforcing towers along the remaining perimeter. The square structure in the north, identified as the Torre del Trovador, likely predates the Taifa era and features a vaulted interior with multiple levels.
Layout and Features
While the original number of entrances is unknown, the current reconstructed palace likely had only one. Inside, ceremonial rooms are arranged around the north-south oriented Patio de Santa Isabel. An archway in the south faces a moat flanked by two pools. The Taifa style is evident in the interwoven arches on different planes, with heavy ataurique decoration within, supported by lobed arches resting on paired columns, more stylized than those of the Caliphate period.
Archery and Columns
Another moat lies within the porch to the north, beyond which an airy arcade leads to a rectangular space between two aisles, possibly an oratory leading to the Throne Room. The first archery features lobed arches with decorative, intersecting blind cusped arches above, supported by molded columns. The capitals are more stylized than earlier examples, with abstract floral decorations and tiny lobed arches replacing the upper whorls, culminating in decorative knots.
The second archery consists of arches with branches extending upwards and closing in a knot. Paired columns are common from this period. The throne room is smaller than Caliphate basilica halls, with a central elongated room connected to two smaller side rooms, all covered by flat wooden roofs.
Oratory and Mihrab
The small, octagonal oratory features a mihrab on the southeast side. The entrance, a lobed arch, leads to a facade reminiscent of Caliphate models: a horseshoe arch framed by a bishop’s miter, a frieze of intersecting semicircular, pointed, and horseshoe arches above, and a rectangular frame. The horseshoe arch features a serpentine element and a decorative corbel soffit, characteristic of the Taifa period. The entire facade is adorned with carved plaster ataurique.
Only the first level of the Taifa-era interior remains; the upper level and vault are reconstructions. The second level likely had a platform for women, possibly enclosed by a lattice. The reconstructed vault resembles a Caliphate vault, though it may have originally been a dome of puff webs. The lower area features seven walls decorated with blind mixtilineal arches, connected by key-shaped branch extensions. Rich decoration extends to the walls, including the mihrab wall, which features a Moorish arch supported by double columns, alternating smooth and plaster-veneered segments, and roundels with scallops in the spandrels. A Kufic frieze of flowers completes this level.
The mihrab’s interior recalls Córdoba’s style, with a socket bottom and a vault of worship. The oratory’s design is linked to luxury arts, particularly ivory pyxis.