Al-Andalus Architecture: Caliphate & Taifa Periods
Fortifications and Architecture of the Caliphate Period
It is a square enclosure, walled, with square towers at the corners. They are the background of the flanking towers and advanced epoch. Inside is a stone cistern. The wall of the citadel is made on the basis of the Roman wall; even a few stones were reused. Rectangular buttresses appear that reinforce the wall.
Retain Caliphate Period
- Two buildings of Al-Hakem II, dated to the tenth century
- Gormaz Castle in Soria: Situated on a plateau from which one could see the area near the Douro River. It was a key stronghold. There are ruins of the wall where you can see the front door. It is made with stone masonry ready to rope and brand. In the double doors is a double horseshoe arch with arch panels. It is dated to the year 965-6 thanks to a foundation inscription on a nearby church.
- Castle of Baños de la Encina in Jaen: It was a fortress guarding the route between Córdoba and Toledo. Year 967. The use of ashlar stone and mud on the walls. In the towers, stone masonry was used. The towers are hollow, announcing what was to be characteristic of this architecture.
Walls
Old door hinge. Toledo. Century X. Islamic basis retouched. Horseshoe arch of the Caliphate period. Reusing blocks is padded with Roman and Visigoth remains.
The Art of the Taifa Kingdoms (11th Century)
In the year 1010, there was a civil war called Fitna. In the year 1031, the fall of the caliphate occurred, causing the rupture of the unity of Al-Andalus. The Umayyad territory was dismembered into small independent kingdoms, which constituted local dynasties. The Banu Hud of Zaragoza, the Banu Di-l-Nun of Toledo, the Abbadids of Seville, and the Zirids of Granada stand out.
The importance of these different realms varies, as does their transcendence and survival. Some remained in effect until the invasion of the Berbers in 1090, while others were absorbed into the Christian Reconquista.
Political decentralization implied a decentralization of art. Artistic productions were no longer concentrated in Cordoba, but there were other cities where we found workshops, causing greater ignorance today.
Clearly, the Taifa kingdoms had fewer resources than in the era of the caliphate. The economy decreased due to the payment of the parias (taxes not to be invaded by the Christians). Despite this, they attempted to maintain a high cultural and economic level, which linked with the world of the Caliphate to legitimize their power.
Maintenance of Caliphal Forms
This leads to the traditional theory that we speak of them as an interim period and a new artistic degeneration of Mannerist art. In fact, current studies tell us that the Taifa kingdoms maintained great relationships in the Mediterranean. They created their own specific language. This new vision will be enriched.
Features
- The building materials were cheaper than those of the Caliphate era. Ashlar stone was abandoned. The use of masonry, brick, or masonry with a mixture of materials.
- The reference is Cordoba.
- They chose the most complex and elaborate solutions. For example, interlocking lobed arches.
- Tendency to the Baroque in the construction elements. Combinations were more complex than in the Caliphate period.
- Tendency to the decorative rather than the constructive. The arches did not have a constructive role, but merely a decorative one.
- New: Mixtilinear Arch, which became the main protagonist of Taifa art because it did not exist in the Caliphate period. It comes from Tunisia (Ifriqiya). It arrived through the Zirid kingdom of Granada.