Almería

Camino Mozárabe

AlmeríaAndalucía

Transparent toponymic Arabism. Almería derives from Andalusian Arabic al-Mariyya (المَرِيَّة, 'the watchtower, the observation tower'), from classical marqab (coastal watch post). The foundation of the Arab city dates from 955 by Caliph Abd al-Rahman III on the old Roman port Portus Magnus, as maritime watchtower and main port of the Caliphate of Cordova for trade with the Maghreb. The toponym preserves in fossilised form the original military function.

The foundation of al-Mariyya in 955 by Abd al-Rahman III consolidated the main port of the Caliphate of Cordova: at its 11th-century peak, al-Mariyya was the first maritime taifa of al-Andalus, base of the Caliphate navy and node of Mediterranean trade with Egypt, Sicily and the Maghreb. The population reached 27,000 inhabitants in 1050, a notable number for a medieval Mediterranean city. The Almohad 11th-12th-century Alcazaba, 43,000 m² fortress with declaration of Site of Cultural Interest in 1931, preserves the three walled enclosures and the palace of the Taifa King Jairán. The city fell into Christian hands in 1147 (ephemeral reconquest by Alfonso VII), was recovered by the Almohads in 1157 and definitively reconquered by the Catholic Monarchs in 1489, two years before the surrender of Granada. It is the last great Andalusian city incorporated to the Christian kingdom before the end of al-Andalus.

Evolution of the name

  1. Portus Magnus Latin 1st–5th centuries
  2. al-Mariyya Andalusi Arabic from 955
  3. Almería medieval Castilian from 1489

Reflections, to the letter

Almería is the watchtower: al-Mariyya, the lookout raised in the tenth century on the highest hill to guard the coast and raise the alarm when pirate sails broke the horizon. That watchtower is today the Alcazaba, and it keeps its office intact for anyone who climbs: from its walls the whole city and the sheet of the Mediterranean are taken in at a single glance. To watch the sea from above is to understand the name — the city was born as an eye set upon the water.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

confirmed

Glossary

Arabism
A word or place name in Castilian, Portuguese or Catalan borrowed from Andalusian Arabic. The Peninsula preserves thousands: aceite, azúcar, almohada, alcázar, azulejo, Guadalquivir, Atalaia, Azofra, Azambuja.
Taifa of Almería
Independent Muslim kingdom formed in 1014 after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Cordova, governed by the Slavonic dynasty of the Banu Suamada until 1041 and then by the Banu Sumadih family until 1091. Its capital was al-Mariyya (Almería) and its territory comprised the current province of Almería, part of Granada and the north of the Maghreb (Oran, Tlemcen). It was the first maritime power of al-Andalus, with its own fleet that controlled the commercial routes of the western Mediterranean. The taifa kingdom fell to the Almoravids in 1091.

Sources

  • Corriente, F. — Diccionario de arabismos
  • Lirola Delgado, J. — Almería andalusí

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Camino Mozárabe

  1. ··· toward Santiago
  2. La Peza
  3. Guadix
  4. Fiñana
  5. Alboloduy
  6. Alhama de Almería
  7. Rioja
  8. Almería