Alcazaba of Almería - Spain
About 200 km east from Malaga, on the same southern coast of Spain, Almería also has its big Moorish fortress, a bit older and even larger.
The construction of the defensive citadel began in 955 during the reign of Abd-al-Rahman III, caliph of Cordoba, and many additions were made to this first building by Arabs and catholic kings, between the 10th and 15th centuries.
Since the beginning of the 1950's, a lot of movies were shooted in Almería and around, some of them picturing the Alcazaba : Mankiewicz's Cleopatra, Conan the Barbarian, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Never Say Never Again, Risen, season 6 of Game of Thrones...
The first enclosure was a military camp, also used to host civils when the city was under attack.
It is now a public garden, offering a large view over the city.
Facing the Alcazaba on another hill is a second fort, el Cerro de San Cristobal, built during the brief christian Reconquista of Alfonso VII of Leon and Castilla, in 12th century. The wall between the two castles is a remain of the ancient fortification of the city.
In the second enclosure, were the apartments of the city governor, but also a little fortified city with its houses, public baths and mosque.
Most of this area is ruined now, and not yet restored, but a few houses were rebuilt as before in the 1960's.
Small cubic houses, organized around a little patio.
The third enclosure is the most modern one, planed for the use of artillery.
Here, the Catholic kings built their own gothic-style keep after the conquest of the city.
♠
The construction of the defensive citadel began in 955 during the reign of Abd-al-Rahman III, caliph of Cordoba, and many additions were made to this first building by Arabs and catholic kings, between the 10th and 15th centuries.
Since the beginning of the 1950's, a lot of movies were shooted in Almería and around, some of them picturing the Alcazaba : Mankiewicz's Cleopatra, Conan the Barbarian, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Never Say Never Again, Risen, season 6 of Game of Thrones...
The first enclosure was a military camp, also used to host civils when the city was under attack.
It is now a public garden, offering a large view over the city.
Facing the Alcazaba on another hill is a second fort, el Cerro de San Cristobal, built during the brief christian Reconquista of Alfonso VII of Leon and Castilla, in 12th century. The wall between the two castles is a remain of the ancient fortification of the city.
In the second enclosure, were the apartments of the city governor, but also a little fortified city with its houses, public baths and mosque.
Most of this area is ruined now, and not yet restored, but a few houses were rebuilt as before in the 1960's.
Small cubic houses, organized around a little patio.
The third enclosure is the most modern one, planed for the use of artillery.
Here, the Catholic kings built their own gothic-style keep after the conquest of the city.
♠