The Alcázar Nuevo (New Alcázar) was built on the Old Alcázar plot during the reign of Alphonse XI of Castile (1312–1350). The Patio Morisco (Morisco Courtyard), a cross-shaped garden with marble pools and flowerbeds framed by acequias lined with blue and green glazed tiles, was unearthed during excavations undertaken in the 1950s. It follows the same layout as a small Almoravid courtyard found under the remains of the old Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakesh and at the Castillejo de Monteagudo in Murcia.

In the sixteenth century, the Alcázar was given to the Inquisition and later transformed into a prison.

Leopoldo Torres Balbás, “Patios de Crucero,” 183–86.

Source: Archaeological Analysis, 1950

-Antonio Almagro, Luis Ramón-Laca

Resources:

Le style gothique français et les Alcazars chrétiens de Seville et de Cordove (XIIIe siècle) (Open in Zotero)

Patios de Crucero (Open in Zotero)

Estudio histórico artístico del Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos de Córdoba (Open in Zotero)

Originally published at: Almagro, Antonio, and Luis Ramón-Laca. “New Alcázar, or Christian Kings’ Alcázar.” Middle East Garden Traditions. Dumbarton Oaks, November 18, 2014. https://www.doaks.org/resources/middle-east-garden-traditions/catalogue#b_start=0&c6=Andalusian++Gardens. Archived at: https://perma.cc/J8KF-DV5P