viewpoint
Opening Hours //
Museum of the Archaeological Site
May 1st – September 15th
Tuesday to Saturday
10:00 – 20:30
Sundays and holidays
10:00 – 14:00
Mondays
Closed
Madinat al-Zahra
classrooms
January 1st – April 30th and September 16th – December 31st
Tuesday to Saturday
10:00 – 18:30
Sundays and holidays
10:00 – 14:00
Mondays
Closed
permanent exhibition
Prices // E.U. citizens with documentation: free Other countries: 1.50 euros
courtyard
diffusion
Address // Ctra. de Palma del Rio, km. 5,5. 14071 Córdoba Tel.
+34
957 352 860/68, Fax
+34
workshop (restoration and investigation)
stores
diffusion
957 352 867 auditorium
Web // www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/museos/CAMA
information
E-mail // madinatalzahra.ccul@juntadeandalucia.es
adapted restrooms
UTM coordinates // X (335889) – Y (4195062) – Time Zone 30 courtyard
restaurant
cafeteria
reception
lockers
shop
administrative area
“Manuel Ocaña” Library entrance
Museum of the Madinat al-Zahara Archeological Site BUS 01
A-431 to palma del rio
CO-3314
Palma del Rio Road km. 5,5 Cordoba
Getting there // Arriving to Cordoba via E5 A4 motorway (Madrid-Cadiz) take exit 405. Direct access via A-431 (the Palma del Rio road), the Archaeological Complex is found after 5.5 kilometers. Bus line 01 (Aucorsa city buses) stops about 100 metres from the roundabout at the entrance.
Access for people with disabilities // All areas are accessible for people with reduced mobility. Library // Loan of, and reference to, specialised bibliographical holdings belonging to the “Manuel Ocaña” Library, a specialist member of the Andalusia Public Library Network. This service is available on application by e-mail to: biblioteca.camadinat@juntadeandalucia.es Unguided group visits // Unguided group visits can be reserved with at least 7 days advance notice. With the safety of the visitors, museum pieces and the optimum enjoyment of your visit in mind, each group may only consist of up to 40 people. Please confirm date and time by phone, web or e-mail Contact details for any booking of visits // Tel: +34 959 352 860 Web: www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/museos/CAMA Email: madinatalzahra.ccul@juntadeandalucia.es
Booking workshops and educational activities // Contact Dissemination Area at: +34 957 352 860/68 Please consult website and informative brochure for dates, times, registration, teaching content and duration of activities. Cultural Program // Throughout the year the following material will be made available: scientific and educational publications, teaching materials, brochures, itineraries, information about guided tours, workshops, youth work camps, competitions of different specialties, summer courses and activities for the International Museum Day (May 18th) and Day of the Sites and Monuments (April 18th). Conferences, music concerts and dance performances will complete the cultural offering - the details of which can be confirmed on the website page of the complex: www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/museos/CAMA
Cultural, Exhibit and Educational Area Auditorium, a space for audiovisual projections and for holding courses, conferences and other educational programs.
Museum
Permanent exhibition, the history and meaning of the Caliphate city is shown through interactive resources, by audiovisual means and the exhibition of the most important pieces from Madinat al-Zahra.
The content of the permanent exhibition is divided into four interrelated zones, each equipped with different resources for a better understanding of the history of the Caliphal city and its importance in the tenth century.
The “Manuel Ocaña” Library, is intended as a resource center for the study and research, open to the general public.
The first zone, named, “Why did Madinat al-Zahra emerge?: The world of Madinat al-Zahra”, brings us a closer understanding of the political, economic and religious context which produced the foundation of the city by Abd al-Rahman III. The second zone, “Planning and infrastructure” puts special emphasis on the construction of the city, with all which that entails, and on the relationship which was established with the city of Córdoba. The third zone, dedicated to the inhabitants of the city, is divided again into three major units that are composed of; the Medina, the Mosque and the Alcazar. Finally, the last zone deals with the end of the city, its destruction and looting, and its history until the commencement of the excavations in 1911 and the work done since that time.
Classroom, this will serve to develop specific workshops and activities for schoolchildren. Conference room, for meetings, workshops or courses related to the heritage status of the site.
The history of the recovery of Madinat al-Zahra began in 1911. In the 1940´s the size of the archaeological site, one of the largest in Europe, proved larger than the infraestructure created to store and exhibit the pieces found in the excavations. This problem continued until the final decades of the last century, when responsability was transferred to the Junta de Andalucía, this body is committed to resolving the various needs that the investigation, preservation and public access to the site pose by the building of the Museum of the Madinat al-Zahra Archaeological Site. This is a museum site devised to facilitate the understanding and development (at all levels) of the potential of the Archaeological Site. We must remember that currently only 11% of the total area of the city has been excavated, and only 5% has been open to the public . This infrastructure is conceived, therefore, as the key to promoting new projects of investigation, preservation and the diffusion of the city of Madinat al-Zahra and its surroundings. The building includes areas of various types aimed at developing projects and activities of a cultural and educational nature, exhibits, research, conservation etc.
Permanent exhibition
Conservation and Investigation Area
Stores, these will house the collections of archaeological material from Madinat al-Zahra in optimal storage conditions. Restoration workshops dedicated to implementing preventive conservation treatments and / or any restoration treatments that may be required for individual pieces. Documentation Center, dedicated to systematizing the administrative documentation and research materials generated by the archaeological team. Research and Administrative work Areas reserved for the technical staff of the archaeological team and collaborators from other centers.
Other services
Shop Cafeteria / restaurant