THE ROYAL ALMUNIA OF MONTEAGUDO
(Palatial complex of Monteagudo)

About 5 Km. North of the city, you can find the most significant architectural remains of medieval Islam in Murcia, lined up along the old Monteagudo road. The Royal Almunia, or recreational centre of the Murcian emirs from the XI century at least, can be found there. The best known are Ibn Mardanish, the wolf king of the Christian chronicles and Ibn Hud, the monarch whose death helped the Castilians to conquer Murcia in 1243.

The first building is the Castle of Monteagudo, which, as its name suggests, is raised on a hill from which you can see most of the land surrounding a large section of the river Segura. In the archaeological excavations, remains of the Iberian and Roman periods have been found, although it was during the Islamic period that Murcia was at its most splendid. A permanent garrison to guard the territory, control the people and probably collect taxes in kind, existed at that time. This would explain the presence of large granaries, which have been excavated in the rock.

About 300 metres to the West we can find another magnificent example of military architecture: El Castillejo de Monteagudo, known in Arabic texts as Qasr Ibn S'ad. It was a recreational palace where the emir and much of his entourage would have resided. It has a rectangular plan which follows the traditional rules of Palatine architecture. The central patio was surrounded by side rooms. The prismatic towers give it a fortified appearance which is more symbolic than functional, bearing in mind the proximity of the castle. In the surroundings of the Castillejo there are remains of the aqueducts and reservoirs used to water the large garden which every Royal Almunia had to have.

Two other fortified palaces, which formed part of the palatial complex, are just as monumental. These are the Larache Castle (Hisn al Faray) and that of Cabezo de Torres, situated at the highest part of the town to which it gave its name.