The Palace of the Aljafería of Zaragoza

The existence of the Christian Aljafería began with the conquest of Zragoza by Alfonso I in 1118, when on July 31, he gave the structure to the Benedictine monks of Crassenses, near Carcassonne, and to the abbot Berengario, the donation being confirmed by bishop Librana, dedicating the church in honor of God and Saints Mary, Martin and Nicholas. The Cistercian foundation continued until the 14th century, although it was limited to a monk put in charge of giving the sacraments and the collection of the tithes and first fruits of the lands and gardens around the castle, proceeds which they largely kept in the following centuries. Felipe II himself amplified these in 1597, and Felipe IV ordered the Inquisitors also to contribute them. When the Aljafería was converted into a military installation, the celebration of the cult passed to a priest chaplain.

1 2

We know very little about the Aljafería in the years following this donation, as there is little extant documentation relative to Saint Martin’s church, its donations and privileges. There is little doubt, though, that the Aragonese monarchs carried out repair work and maintenance to the Muslim palace. Perhaps the most prominent, if it really materialized, would have been carried out at the time of Alfonso I, with the construction of Saint Martin’s church. Some scholars defend the existence of an early Romanesque church, of which nothing remains and which theoretically would have been substituted by the present one in the 14th century. I believe it is more reasonable to concur with Gonzalo Borrás’s thesis that point outs out that within the economic and social context of 12th and 13th century Zaragoza, it doesn’t seem plausible that they would have committed themselves to new church construction at that period. It would be more logical to posit conversion of the mosque, or at least the adaptation of another palace room for the purpose for Christian practice. There are other examples of such reuse of mosques as Christian churches in Zaragoza itself, where the main mosque was consecrated as the Cathedral (the present San Salvador), where its Romanesque structure was certainly not carried out until seventy years later. Even in this case there were so many difficulties that only the apses were carried out in that style.

3 4

In the remaining palace rooms, it is possible that some work of embellishment was done, though very few mentions of it have come down to us; they reconditioned and repaired the Aljafería’s baths and other small repairs at the time of Jaime II, though its location is unknown, since nothing remains, but it must have corresponded to the Arabic baths.

At the time of the abovementioned monarch, the Gothic Alcove of Saint Isabel may have been built, which tradition situates to the birth of Isabel, queen of Portugal and Infanta of Aragon. The construction, however, is difficult to date because of its diverse modifications, which could date from either the 13th or 14th centuries. This is similar to the problems we find in attributing the two upper floors of the Troubadour’s Tower to a specific monarch.

It would not be until the reign of Pedro IV when there was a wide policy of building in the palace that created great expenses, so much so that cities and Jewish and Muslim towns were obliged to contribute, not to mention funds seized from those condemned to death.

There is a considerable amount of documentation dating to the work undertaken by this monarch and his descendents. Some of this can be proven archeologically, although the big transformations undergone by this building complex, especially in its military incarnation, have ostensibly modified its appearance, so that it now appears to have little in common with its early descriptions. This can be seen through descriptions of it, dealing with coronations and matrimonial alliances, described by Zurita in his Anales or the chroniclers Carbonell and Blancas.

Doubtless it is this monarch who is most closely associated with the Palace of the Aljafería, even though much of the work done during his time has not come down to us. This is especially true in work around the palace, including the majority of the interiors, which were affected firstly by the modifications of the Palace of the Catholic Kings, and later the successive adaptations carried out from the time of Felipe II until the 1950’s.

7 8

The modifications were so radical that during this time scholars doubted the existence of a Mudéjar palace altogether in the strict sense of the term, since it consisted only of isolated rooms or independent spaces of greater or lesser significance, that were found on various levels on the northern sector of the Islamic palace. Today, though the spaces and structures remain the same, the work of removing later walls in all these chambers has permitted interconnections and reinterpretations on many occasions. This at least permits us to understand the Mudéjar palace, even though it is certain that so many rooms and structures have been lost, such as those located around the present Patio of Saint Isabel, of whose existence we only know about through the mention of the chroniclers.

Leaving apart Saint Martin’s Church and Saint George’s Chapel, the rest of the medieval palace is preserved to the north of the Islamic Throne Room, and on the second floor, above the palace. These consist principally in three large, rectangular chambers, as well as a series of little rooms whose ceilings, recuperated through a long process of restoration, show some of the richest surviving moldings still found, which, combined with the Renaissance Artesonados,make this complex one of the most complete and interesting that the visitor can contemplate and the scholar can study, since so few buildings preserve ceilings of the 14th and 16th centuries together.

To understand all this better, I’ve attached the plan of the upper floor where these chambers and rooms are found at different levels of the Mudéjar palace. The visitor has to take into account that some of the rooms are not open to view for various reasons.