Poet king Al-Mutamid

Seville is a city with many Moorish influences, but what did these Moors do here?

For centuries, the Moors ruled Spain from 711 to 1492. During the Reconquista, the Moors took possession of all of Spain in a few years. In 710, Musa Ibn Nusair decided to let an army of thousands of Berbers cross the Strait of Gibraltar. In the following years, the Islamic armies conquered all of Spain.

Al-Mutamid, also known as Abbad III, grew up in Seville, as Sevillian. He was the 3rd and also the last leader of the Taifa of Seville in al-Andalus, and also a famous poet. He was the last leader of the Abbadid dynasty of Seville.

When he was twelve years old he started to get lazy and loved to drink a lot of wine and enjoy the ladies. When his older brother died, Al-Mutamid had to return to the court of Seville to control the army of the kingdom. When Al-Mutamid finally gains power, he increases and copies the luxury his father had, but not as fierce as his father was.

Al-Mutamid was certainly not only interested in women, wine and poetry. He had a good friend who was inseparable from al-Mutamid: Ibn Ammar, also a poet. Al-Mutamid's father tried to separate the friends several times by sending Ibn Ammar to another city. When his father died, Al-Mutamid's friend became the prime minister of Seville. But everyone knows what happens when you combine friendship with work, usually not such a good idea. This was the reason why these two friends were separated at the end.

Al-Mutamid saw how the old city given to his grandfather began to form a kingdom consisting of Algarve (Portugal), Huelva, Algeciras, Ronda, Córdoba, Murcia, the entire present province of Seville and part of the province of Jaén. The Taifa of Seville flourished but later became political trouble due to the growing power of the Catholic kingdoms in the north. Seville and al-Mutamid, for example, gradually became a vassal state of Castile. As the last straw, the poet king went to Morocco asking for help from a new and powerful dynasty on the other side of the water, the Abbasid. They promised to help al-Mutamid but decided to stay behind his back in Spain and seize power themselves. The poet king was captured and brought to Morocco by order of the winner, the Almoravid Ibn Tasufin. There he saw how his wife died, I – 'Timad, and there he also died a month later, according to the stories: From heartbreak.

What is there to visit from this poet in Seville? Real Alcázar.

At the beginning of the 10th century Abd al-Rahman III, then Caliph of Córdoba, ordered the construction of a fortified palace as the main building for the government. This building only got bigger and bigger in the years that followed. Al-Mutamid saw that this palace quickly became a cultural center in the city. There are about 12 palaces built and demolished again, there are few remains of this. The great change began when the Christians took over Seville. Alcázar was then converted into a residence.

In the 13th century Real Alcázar underwent a big change in which the lake got a Gothic and Romanesque architectural style instead of the Moorish architectural style that had it first. In the 16th century there were also Renaissance influences. This resulted in what can be seen now, as a wonderful mix of different cultural influences. In honor of Al-Mutamid, a pillar has been placed in the garden of the palace, see if you can find it!

To this day Real Alcázar is one of the most important and visited highlights of Seville. Are you in town? Then be sure to have a look at this beautiful palace!
During our daily tour, we also pass Real Alcázar and many more beautiful sights.