The center of which national capital city is built around an original Moorish fortress?

Unlike many European capitals that trace their origins to Roman settlements, the heart of Spain's capital city has its roots in the Islamic world. The original settlement was a 9th-century fortress, or alcázar, built by the Umayyad emir Muhammad I of Córdoba. He named the citadel Mayrit, an Arabic term thought to mean "source of water," which eventually evolved into the city's modern name.

This fortress was not intended to be a major city, but rather a strategic military outpost. Its primary function was to defend the northern frontier of Al-Andalus, the Moorish-controlled Iberian Peninsula, and to guard the crucial mountain passes leading to the then-capital of Toledo from advancing Christian kingdoms to the north. It served as a key defensive point for nearly two centuries.

After Christian forces captured the fortress in 1085, it was gradually expanded. Today, the original Moorish walls are long gone, but the city's very core is still defined by that location. The magnificent Royal Palace of Madrid and the Almudena Cathedral now stand on the very site of that ancient defensive outpost, a testament to the layers of history that form the foundation (Review) of the Spanish capital.