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Mudejar/Moorish Courtyard Audiodescription.

• Complex map >
• Ground Floor: Patios >
• Mudejar/Moorish Courtyard

The Mudejar Courtyard or Moorish Courtyard is the only area in the Alcázar which still retains its original layout. This courtyard can be reached either via a set of stairs on the upper floor of the castle or through a pointed wrought-iron arch in the western wall. The enclosed courtyard is located in front of the north-side the façade of the large vaulted gallery where the splendid Roman sarcophagus is exhibited and at the top, closing the height, the well-known chemin de ronde, the parapet between the most ancient towers: the Lions Tower and the Keep Tower. The architectural feature of long vaulted galleries is repeated systematically around the central space in this courtyard. The only area in which this feature is not present is where the original western wall links the Tower of the Lions with the Tower of the Inquisition. This gives the eastern façade, or rather the main part of the castle, a gallery with two sections. This is also the case with the southern façade, where remains can be found of a stucco baseboard decorated with Arab geometric drawings and several coats of arms. These show the crown of Leon and Castile in red and yellow.
With its rectangular plan, paths criss-cross the courtyard ending in two ponds; in the centre of the courtyard there is a fountain with small ceramic channels running from it. The flora is typical for Andalusian gardens: orange trees, lemon trees and flower beds of myrtles and wallflowers with aromatic jasmines on its walls.