From Turkestan to Andalusia Spain, Medieval Islamic cities geographically occupied a wide
area, and thus they had left their mark on the medieval era. Being one of these Islamic cities, Cordoba
was seized by the Arabs in 711 and the first urbanization activities began upon moving the government
centre from Seville to Cordoba. Later on, as the capital city of Andalusia Umayyad Dynasty, Cordoba
became one of the most crucial cities of Spain in terms of science, art and trade. In this study, stating
the features of medieval Western and Islamic cities, initially, the geographic, politic, economic and
philosophic bases that took part in the establishment of the cities will be discussed and a specific focus
will be made upon Cordoba city. Afterwards, information about the history, city layout and structure,
city administration, socio-economic structure and cultural formation of Cordoba will be presented.
This study reveals that Renaissance which is the main output of the European urbanization in
medieval era cannot be considered apart from the administrative, socio-economic, cultural and
architectural features of the Islamic cities within the context of Ibn Haldun’s thoughts.
From Turkestan to Andalusia Spain, Medieval Islamic cities geographically occupied a wide
area, and thus they had left their mark on the medieval era. Being one of these Islamic cities, Cordoba
was seized by the Arabs in 711 and the first urbanization activities began upon moving the government
centre from Seville to Cordoba. Later on, as the capital city of Andalusia Umayyad Dynasty, Cordoba
became one of the most crucial cities of Spain in terms of science, art and trade. In this study, stating
the features of medieval Western and Islamic cities, initially, the geographic, politic, economic and
philosophic bases that took part in the establishment of the cities will be discussed and a specific focus
will be made upon Cordoba city. Afterwards, information about the history, city layout and structure,
city administration, socio-economic structure and cultural formation of Cordoba will be presented.
This study reveals that Renaissance which is the main output of the European urbanization in
medieval era cannot be considered apart from the administrative, socio-economic, cultural and
architectural features of the Islamic cities within the context of Ibn Haldun’s thoughts.
Journal Section | Articles |
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Authors | |
Publication Date | April 28, 2016 |
Published in Issue | Year 2016 Volume: 3 Issue: 2 |