The Ninth-Century Alcazaba of Mérida

In 835, Emir Abd ar-Rahman II of Córdoba built the Alcazaba of Mérida to command the city, which had rebelled in 805. This structure is the first Muslim alcazaba in the Iberian peninsula and features a large squared line of walls, every side measuring 130 metres in length, 10 metres in height, and 2.7 metres in thickness. The walls were built re-using Roman walls and Roman-Visigothic edifices in granite, and include 25 towers with a quadrangular base which served as counterforts.

The Alcazaba is accessed from the Puente Romano, the Roman bridge over the Guadiana river, through a small enclosure traditionally known as Alcarazejo. This area was used to check the traffic of pedestrians and goods to the city. The military area features a gate flanked by two towers, with an inscription over a horseshoe-shaped arc celebrating Abd ar-Rahman's patronage of the work. The site also houses an aljibe, a rainwater tank with a cistern to collect and filter water from the river.

Annexed to the Alcazaba was a convent of the Order of Santiago, which is currently home to the council of the Extremadura community. Excavated areas within the fortress have yielded remnants predating its construction, including a well-preserved segment of a Roman road extending to the Morerías Archaeological Area and an urban Roman dwelling. A portion of a Roman wall is also visible, adjacent to a powerful buttress constructed using recycled granite fragments that is believed to date back to the fifth century AD.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons