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Alcazar (from the Arabic al-qasr, castle in Spanish)

القصر (الألكازار)

Alcazar, a Spanish word from the Arabic al-qasr, meaning castle or citadel. The Alcazars of Seville, Cordova, Segovia and Toledo are famous, and the name is also used for many places, among them Alcazar de San Juan and Alcazarquivir, the Spanish name of Ksar al-Kabir in Morocco 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Umayyad Period
Region
al-Andalus & Europe · Maghreb
Review
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Architecture

Overview

Alcazar is a Spanish word, from the Arabic al-qasr, meaning castle or citadel. 1

Famous examples

The Alcazars of Seville, Cordova, Segovia and Toledo are the best known. The name is also frequent in place names: Alcazar de San Juan is a town in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real, and Alcazarquivir is the Spanish name of Ksar al-Kabir, a town in Morocco. 1

People and things also explored

Abu Dulaf Mosque, Samarra· Great Mosque of Adana· Ahi Çelebi Mosque, Istanbul· al-Aqmar Mosque, Cairo· al-Attarine Madrasa, Fez· Great Mosque of Samarra· al-Janad Mosque, Ta'izz· al-Mansur Mosque (Kasbah Mosque), Marrakesh

Sources

  1. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 1 p. 380
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Alcazar (from the Arabic al-qasr, castle in Spanish)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/alcazar/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.

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Abu Dulaf Mosque, Samarra

Draft card for the Abu Dulaf Mosque of Samarra, built by the Abbasid al-Mu'tamid about 860 with a smaller spiral minaret in the style of al-Mutawakkil's; the encyclopedia entry is not yet checked on the page.