Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Almeria

المرية

al-Andalus

Almeria — the harbour city of al-Andalus with its impregnable citadel of Khayran built by al-Nasir; its silk looms outwove every land (800 for tiraz, a thousand each for brocade, esclaton and the rest), its district mined iron and marble, its baths and fondacos neared a thousand, and no Andalusi city held greater wealth or warehouses — until it fell by storm on Friday 17 Jumada I 542 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
Abbasid Fragmentation
Region
al-Andalus & Europe
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Overview

One of the well-known cities of al-Andalus, on the sea coast. It has the impregnable fortress known as the Fortress of Khayran, built by Abd al-Rahman al-Nasir. It grew in importance in the state of al-Mansur ibn Abi Amir, who appointed his client Khayran over it, and it was named after him. 2

Its crafts and buildings

al-Maqqari reports that it excels in the craft of silk brocade over all other lands, and that it has an arsenal. Its district includes iron and marble mines. Among its gates is the Gate of the Eagle, on which there is a figure of an eagle carved in ancient stone. 2

There were eight hundred looms in it for weaving silk bands, and a thousand looms for fine robes and rich brocade, and it had about a thousand baths and inns. He says that there was no wealthier people in the lands of al-Andalus, nor greater markets and treasures. 3

Its fall

It fell by force on Friday, the seventeenth of Jumada al-Ula in the year 542 AH. 4

Connections

Explore the connections

Located in
al-Andalus

People and things also explored

The Entry of Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil into al-Andalus· Conquest of al-Andalus· the first raid on al-Andalus (27 AH)· death of Ibn Mardanīsh — Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd al-Muʾmin takes his lands· Alhama· al-Munkab· Baza· Guadix

Sources

  1. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari , p. 198-199,466
  2. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari , p. 198
  3. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari , p. 199
  4. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari , p. 466
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Almeria”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/almeria/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Place

Cities, sites and routes on a map that moves through time. Related

The Entry of Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil into al-Andalus

In year 138 Abd al-Rahman ibn Muawiya ibn Hisham the Umayyad entered al-Andalus and seized it; his days extended and al-Andalus remained in his descendants' hands past the year 400. A man of learning and justice whose mother was Berber, they said: 'The world is ruled by two sons of Berber women — al-Mansur and Abd al-Rahman ibn Muawiya.' By year 148 nothing lay outside al-Mansur's sway but al-Andalus, held by Abd al-Rahman, who did not take the title Commander of the Faithful but only amir — as did his sons.