Eight kilometres west of the city, the ruins of Medina Azahara are what remain of the palace city the caliph built for himself in the 10th century. UNESCO listed it in 2018. Excavation has uncovered terraces of audience halls, a mosque, gardens, and the spectacular Salón Rico with its restored marble columns and intricate carved panels. A small museum at the entrance explains what you're looking at. Catch the dedicated tourist bus from the Glorieta Cruz Roja in the city centre; the site itself is closed Mondays.
Medina Azahara
UNESCO-listed Umayyad palace city risen and destroyed within a single century
A story
Built by caliph Abd al-Rahman III in 936 as a statement of Umayyad power, the city was sacked and destroyed by Berber troops barely seventy years later. It vanished so completely that for centuries even its location was forgotten.