Buhaira Gardens

[5] This name was used for many gardens and country estates during the Almohad period (12th-13th centuries) that featured artificial lakes or reservoirs.

[4]: 211 [6] Its conception followed the example of earlier Almohad country estates just outside Rabat and Marrakesh in Morocco (e.g. the Menara Gardens).

Al-Hajj al-Ya'ish, the same engineer who was responsible for various works in Marrakesh, designed the hydraulic infrastructure of the gardens.

[4]: 211  The gardens were supplied with water by a Roman aqueduct (now known as the Caños de Carmona) which Abu Yaqub Yusuf ordered to be reconstructed in order to supply both this palace and the larger Alcazar Palace.

[1][2][4]: 212  The site of the palace was first studied and excavated in 1971 by Francisco Collantes de Terán and Juan Zozaya.

A major road, Avenida de la Buhaira, now runs through the former estate and next to the restored water basin.

Any excess water from the aqueduct continued to flow past the reservoir and discharged into the gardens to the west.

In the late 15th or early 16th century, the Venetian ambassador Andrea Navagero noted that orange trees grew around the reservoir.

View of the Buhaira water basin, with the restored remains of the foundations of the former eastern Almohad pavilion, partly occupied by a more recent Mudéjar building
The 19th-century Mudéjar-style pavilion on the east side of the gardens
Outlined remains of the square pavilion on the south side of the water basin