The Ribat of Madrid

By: Raquel Martínezand

Tania Rodríguez

What is a Ribat?

A ribat is a small fortified enclosure where a religious and military community live together.

It is inhabited by monks and merchants.

The Ribat of Madrid was built on a unknown date placed between the years 860 and 880.

The Emir Muhammad I, ordered it to be built

The city that was inside of the enclosure was called Mayrit, which means, “land rich in water”.

This is the castle-fortress of the Ribat

Mayrit was a castle-fortress with a small fortified enclosure of 2 km. Thanks to its position, the Muslims could watch the Manzanares waterway, that was their defence to avoid being conquered by the Christians.

Mayrit had three areas. In the north part was the castle-fortress, with a big patio. In the south part was the medina,with the civil population. And in the east part was the mosque. The population

was between 2,000 and 3,000 people.

The Ribat was located where currently is The Royal Palace of Madrid. After the Christian reconquest, The Ribat changed its name into The Real Alcazar of Madrid, and the building expanded until it became The Royal Palace of Madrid.

In this photo the Christians had reconquered the land and they had extended the building, that instead of calling it The Ribat, they called it The Royal Alcazar.

Nowadays, in The Royal Palace of Madrid we can find some paintings and drawings, that most probably belonged to the Muslims that lived in the Ribat.

Sources:

www.google.com/paseoporelmadridmusulman

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribat

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_real_de_madrid#Historia