Subtitle:

The last day of the conference in Zaragoza (March 22, 2024), we had a guided tour of the Aljaferia Palace, a 1000 year old palace that was used when the area was under Muslim control. Later, the Christian kings used it as a residence. Now, besides being a World Heritage site, it is used by the Aragon regional parliament.



001-DSC_8108-header: The Northside Halls 001-DSC_8108-headertext:

001-DSC_8108: 002-DSC_8109: The courtard of Santa Isabel with orange tree! 003-Aljaferia_Panorama1: Just inside the castl by the The Moorish-Taifa northside halls. 004-Aljaferia_Panorama7: The courtyard of Santa Isabel with more orange trees. 005-DSC_8118: 006-DSC_8119: 007-DSC_8120: The oratory or mosque. 008-Aljaferia_Panorama15: 010-DSC_8123: I think teh windows are made of alabaster stone. The windows have a very Arabic look to them. 011-DSC_8124: The door to the mihrab, a niche in a wall of a mosque that faces Mecca. 012-Aljaferia_Panorama6: 015-DSC_8130: 020-DSC_8135: This was the remains of a panel with geometric decorations. I think the color is not original but reproduced. 021-DSC_8136: I think this is a reconstruction of how some of the ornamentation looked. 022-DSC_8138: Looking down a shaft, past the graiting are spiral staircases goign down. 023-DSC_8141: 024-DSC_8142: 025-DSC_8143: The sheaf of arrows is part of Isabella and Fernado's coat of arms. 026-DSC_8146: I think this was a meeting room with a really long table. 027-DSC_8147: There is arabic religious writing on the top of walls. 029-DSC_8149: A model of Aljaferia, side view. 030-DSC_8151: A view of the back of the model of Aljaferia. 031-Aljaferia_Panorama2-header: Palace of the Catholic Monarchs 031-Aljaferia_Panorama2-headertext:

Isabella and Ferdinand were "the Catholic Monarchs." 031-Aljaferia_Panorama2: The Grand Hall of the Palace of the Catholic Monarchs. 032-DSC_8161: The portal into the throne room. 033-DSC_8162: The writing along the top of the walls is praising the king, but I can't quite make out what it's says. I see "anno" and then something that looks like it could be a year in Roman numerals but it's not valid and would be in the 20th century (maybe) which doesn't make sense. 034-Aljaferia_Panorama5: Nothing says regal like gold pineapples on the ceiling (which was the style at the time). 035-DSC_8167: This was a section of the floor that was original and thus blocked off. 036-DSC_8168: A hallway that overlooks the courtyard of Santa Isabel (I think). 037-Aljaferia_Panorama3: 038-DSC_8177: "Tanto Monta" from the royal motto: "Tanto monta, monta tanto, cortar como desatar" ("It's one and the same, cutting or untying"), which relates to the Gordian knot, a complex knot tied to an oxcart which Alexander the Great "untied" but cutting it with his sword. The severed rope below the motto is tied to a two ox yoke. It wa also symbolic of the equality of Isabella and Ferdinand's rule. 039-DSC_8178: A sheaf of arrows indicating "don't fuck with us." 040-DSC_8179: More yokes and severed Gordian knots. 041-DSC_8180: 042-DSC_8181: 043-Aljaferia_Panorama8: The arch over the main entrance to the throne room, with the coat of arms being held by two sheeplions (a wiki page calls them "lieutenant lions" though, I would have thought that they would have been promoted to Captain, or at least Major, lions by now). 044-DSC_8185: Another cool, complicated ceiling. 045-DSC_8186: I think this was the Noble staircase. 047-Aljaferia_Panorama4: Windows while on the landing of the Noble Staircase. 048-Aljaferia_Panorama9: 049-Aljaferia_Panorama10: The courtyard of Santa Isabel. 050-DSC_8209: I think this was at the back of the parliament regional chamber. 051-Aljaferia_Panorama11: The chamber for the Aragon regional parliament. The officials are in the chairs in the front. The guests are in chairs facing the stage (where I'm standing) and on the journalists are on second floor along the sides of the room behind glass. 052-Aljaferia_Panorama12-header: Outside the Palace 052-Aljaferia_Panorama12-headertext:

052-Aljaferia_Panorama12: It looks like this could have bean a huge moat but I think it was the courtyard. 053-DSC_8212: The flat area might have served as a defence in case the walls were breached. 054-Aljaferia_Panorama13: the front looks like a castle. 055-DSC_8225: And by castle, I mean the rooks in chess. Bottom: