The Huerta de la Alcurnia was a
Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or se ...
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
in medieval Islamic
Toledo
Toledo most commonly refers to:
* Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain
* Province of Toledo, Spain
* Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States
Toledo may also refer to:
Places Belize
* Toledo District
* Toledo Settlement
Bolivia
* Toledo, Orur ...
, in
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...
, present day
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. Its name is derived from the Arabic ''Munya al-kudya'', meaning 'garden on a higher ground.'
Design
The Huerta de la Alcurnia was on the river bank between the southern city walls and the
Tagus River
The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to e ...
. The garden had a pavilion for
Al-Mamun, the king of the
Taifa of Toledo. In the 11th century the garden was, possibly, the location of a
water clock
A water clock or clepsydra (; ; ) is a timepiece by which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into (inflow type) or out from (outflow type) a vessel, and where the amount is then measured.
Water clocks are one of the oldest time-m ...
of the mathemacian
al-Zarqālī, which was said to be between the "Bab-al-Dabbagin" also known by its Spanish name as "Puerta de los Curtidores" (English translation: gate of the tanners) and the
Tagus
The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...
.
Etching
A clear image of the garden is to be found on an etching of a view of Toledo from 1585 by
Ambrogio Brambilla (f. 1585-99) ed. by Pietro de Nobili (dativus: Nobilibus), available on
Bibliotheca Digital Hispánica'
[''Bibliotheca Digital Hispánica'' Link; Author Jollain, Francis ed.; retrieved on December 15, 2008]
See also
*
Palacio de Galiana
The Palacio de Galiana is a Mudéjar palace in Toledo, Spain, on the borders of the Tagus River. It was built on the site of an earlier summer villa and garden of Al-Mamun, the king of the Taifa of Toledo, in the thirteenth century by king Alfo ...
*
Spanish gardens
*
:Garden design history of Spain
References
External links
Middle East Garden Traditions- ''see Toledo (7), third paragraph.''
Biblioteca Digital, Toledo Map, ''Vistas de ciudades 1650-1700''- (''scroll to the bottom'')
Gardens in Spain
Culture of Al-Andalus
Buildings and structures in Toledo, Spain
{{Al-Andalus-stub