The Country Estate Castillejo de Monteagudo (Murcia)

The Palace Complex in the Agricultural Plain (12th and 13th century CE)

Abstract

This article presents the results of the archaeological campaigns of 2018, 2019, and 2023 at the ›almunia‹ of Monteagudo (Murcia), which were carried out in two plots of orchard located in the agricultural plain. The remains of a palace with a large, four-part garden were encountered which, together with the fortified residence of Castillejo, make up the palatial complex of the estate. The buildings and cultivated spaces of the plain were organized around a main, east-west axis in which a reservoir courtyard and a pavilion-hall open onto the four-part garden through a portico with an attached basin. The main construction phase dates from the reign of Ibn Mardanīš (1147–1171), although there are some structures that can be ascribed to an earlier period. After the destruction carried out by the Almohads at two different times (1165 and 1171), some buildings were restored while others were abandoned and became agricultural spaces. After the Castilian conquest in 1243, the Islamic palaces were temporarily reused by the court of Alfonso X, and even a small residential nucleus and an aqueduct of some importance were built.