'The Palace') located in the historic centre of Córdoba (in Andalusia, Spain), next to the Guadalquivir River and near the Mosque-Cathedral.

The architectural ensemble has a sober character in its exterior and splendid in its interior, with the magnificent gardens and courtyards that maintain a Mudéjar inspiration.

Abd ar-Rahman I and his successors, who eventually created the independent Caliphate of Córdoba, were responsible for the construction of the Alcázar which became the official residence and seat of power of Al-Andalus.

[4] The city subsequently flourished as a key political and cultural center, and the Alcázar was expanded into a very large and widely used area with baths, gardens, and the largest library in the West.

The palace complex was also equipped with a bathhouse (hammam), known today as the Caliphal Baths (Baños Califales), which dates from the reign of al-Hakam II and was later expanded under the Almohads (12th to early 13th century).

In 1328, Alfonso XI of Castile began building the present day structure on part of the site for the old fortress.

The Alcázar was involved in the civil war where Henry IV of Castile faced a rebellion that backed his teenage half-brother Alfonso the Innocent.

[5] Henry's successor, Isabella and her husband Ferdinand, used the Alcázar for one of the first permanent tribunals of the Spanish Inquisition and as a headquarters for their campaign against the Nasrid dynasty in Granada, the last remaining Moorish kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Inquisition began using the Alcázar as one of its headquarters in 1482, converting much of it, including the Arab baths, into torture and interrogation chambers.

[10] In 1486 or 1487,[Note 1] Christopher Columbus had his first audience here with the Catholic Monarchs (Isabella and Ferdinand) to solicit support for his expedition to find a western sea route to Asia.

[15] The outdoor area of the Alcázar is situated within the walls of the four towers (Paloma, Leones, Homenaje and Inquisición), this creating an almost square shape to the building.

[16][22] Beneath the current floor of the hall, it is still possible to discover the remains of which are believed to be from the Royal Baths which were used by high dignitaries during the Muslim era.

[25] A set of gardens and orchards have existed in this area since at least the 10th century when Abd ar-Rahman III constructed an aqueduct to bring water from the nearby Albolafia waterwheel (or noria).