Palacio de Galiana
Encyclopedia
The Palacio de Galiana is a 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 Alphonso X.
style and retains many characteristics of Moorish architecture
in the Al-Andalus
era. The palace consists of a hall divided into three parallel naves with rooms at each end linked by a passageway. The name of the palace, Galiana, is derived from a fictive character, Aisha Galiana, the daughter of an imaginary Moorish king Aljafra. She figures in medieval chansons and subsequently in the works of Cervantes
and Lope de Vega
.
. It was famous for its irrigation works, the ruins of which are still to be seen.
The garden was also, possibly, the location of a water clock
, constructed by Al-Zarqali.
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, on the borders of the Tagus River. It was built on the site of an earlier summer villa and garden of Al-Mamun
Al-Mamun of Toledo
Yahya ibn Ismail al-Mamun or Yahya ben Ismael ben-Dylinun was a member of the Banu Dil-Nun dynasty who was king of the Taifa of Toledo between 1043 and 1075....
, the king of the Taifa of Toledo
Taifa of Toledo
The taifa of Toledo was a Muslim medieval kingdom located in what is now central Spain. It existed from the fracturing of the long-eminent Muslim Caliphate of Córdoba in 1035 until the Christian conquest in 1085.-History:...
, in the thirteenth century by king Alphonso X.
Palace
The palace was built in the MudéjarMudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
style and retains many characteristics of Moorish architecture
Moorish architecture
Moorish architecture is the western term used to describe the articulated Berber-Islamic architecture of North Africa and Al-Andalus.-Characteristic elements:...
in the Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
era. The palace consists of a hall divided into three parallel naves with rooms at each end linked by a passageway. The name of the palace, Galiana, is derived from a fictive character, Aisha Galiana, the daughter of an imaginary Moorish king Aljafra. She figures in medieval chansons and subsequently in the works of Cervantes
Cervantes
-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
and Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega
Félix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
.
Gardens
The garden area around the palace, called the 'Al-Munya al-Na‘ura' (the Water Wheel Orchard) or 'Huerta del Rey' (the king's garden) included a botanical garden of the pharmacologist Ibn al-WafidIbn al-Wafid
Ali Ibn al-Husain Ibn al-Wafid , known in Latin Europe as Abenguefit, was a pharmacologist and physician from Toledo. He was the vizier of Al-Mamun of Toledo. His main work is Kitab al-adwiya al-mufrada...
. It was famous for its irrigation works, the ruins of which are still to be seen.
The garden was also, possibly, the location of a water clock
Water clock
A water clock or clepsydra is any timepiece in which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured.Water clocks, along with sundials, are likely to be the oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exceptions...
, constructed by Al-Zarqali.
20th century
From the 1950s onwards the Palacio de Galiana was restored and its present garden designed by the architects Manuel Gomez Moreno and Fernando Chueca Goitia under the auspices of its owner Carmen Maranon.External links
- Thorough report and extensive references on the early history of the palace, photos and map at the bottom, on Middle East Gardens.com (retrieved on November 27, 2008)
- Photos of the Palacio de Galiana on Oronoz.com http://www.oronoz.com/muestrafotostitulos.php?pedido=TOLEDO%20PALACIO%20DE%20GALIANA&tabla=Claves (retrieved on November 27, 2008)
- In Spanish: Jésus Téllez Rubio, "Dos Agrónomos Toledanos: Ibn Wâfid e Ibn Bassâl, y la Huerta del Rey" in: Tulaytula: Revista de la Asociación de Amigos del Toledo Islámico, ISSN 1575-653X, Nº. 4, 1999, pags. 49-58 (click on 'descargar' PDF) http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2481155 (retrieved on November 30, 2008)
- Julián Ramos Ramos, "Las almunias de la ciudad de Toledo", in: Tulaytula: Revista de la Asociación de Amigos del Toledo Islámico, ISSN 1575-653X, Nº. 3, 1998 , pags. 51-76 http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2481122 (click on 'descargar' PDF)
- Wikimapia http://wikimapia.org/5590910/Palacio-de-Galiana (retrieved on November 27, 2008)
- In Spanish, "La Historia de Fermosa" Abraham S. Marrache, Hebraica Ediciones 2009 http://lahistoriadefermosa.com : Palacio de Galiana was the backdrop to the love affair that took place in 1179, between King Alfonso VIII of Castille and Fermosa, the young Jewess from Toledo.