Palace of Ukhaidir

The palace-fortress of Ukhaidir (or Ukhaydir) stands beside a wadi on the edge of the Arabian desert. It has a high external wall with round towers and a number of internal courtyards. The construction, in stone, was influenced by the style of the Sassanian (Persian) empire which had been overrun by Arab armies a century earlier. One can see Ukhaidir as a staging post on the road to the Alhambra. It encloses an outdoor space, but it is not a garden in the horticultural sense of the word.