The Aljaferia Palace

The Aljaferia was built in the eleventh century for the taifa rulers of Zaragoza as a pleasure palace outside the walls, and its core is the most complete piece of Islamic palace architecture surviving in Spain north of Andalusia. Interlacing arches of carved plaster spring across the north portico, and a small mosque keeps its horseshoe mihrab. Later Aragonese kings took the building over and added their own rooms, and the upper floor holds a gilded coffered ceiling from the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. A square tower older than the palace stands in the courtyard. Part of the complex is used by the regional parliament, which shapes the visiting hours.

What you actually see

• The taifa portico - interlacing carved plaster arches around the courtyard pool.
• The small mosque - a horseshoe mihrab preserved inside the palace core.
• The Golden Hall ceiling - a gilded coffered ceiling from the late fifteenth century.
• The Troubadour tower - a square defensive tower predating the palace around it.

When to go

Spring and autumn: Zaragoza summers are ferociously hot and the walk in from the centre offers no shade. Hours change with the parliamentary calendar, so check the day you go rather than the week before. Morning slots are usually easier to get, and the interior rooms are cool whatever the weather outside.

Honest expectations

Opening times shift with official business and can be cut back at short notice, sometimes with only part of the building available. From outside it reads as a blunt fortress and gives nothing away, which disappoints people expecting Alhambra scale. Restoration is heavy and openly visible, and some rooms can only be seen on a guided pass.

Nearby

The Basilica del Pilar and Zaragoza's Roman museums, and the Mudejar towers of Teruel further south.