English and the World · Spain · 56 · Córdoba · A1–C2 · A1–A2 free
A shining city in the hills, built for a caliph and his court, destroyed after only seventy years, and found again under the ground a thousand years later. Choose your level.
The 10th century
In about 936, the caliph Abd al-Rahman III began a new city about seven kilometres from Córdoba, in the hills. Thousands of workers built palaces, gardens, a mosque, houses and baths on three big terraces. The caliph had his palace at the top, and he saw everything below him.
The name of the city was Madinat al-Zahra, “the shining city”. A legend says that the caliph gave it the name of a woman he loved, al-Zahra. Ambassadors came from far away, and they found rooms full of gold, marble and water.
1010 to today
But the city didn’t last long. In 1010, during a civil war, soldiers broke into it and took everything. People left, and for centuries builders came and took its stones for new buildings. Slowly, the city fell into ruins and disappeared under the earth.
In 1911 archaeologists began to dig. They found walls, columns and beautiful carved stone. Today you can visit the ruins and a modern museum. Only a small part of the city is excavated: there is still a lot under the ground!
🦉 Want more? Sophia explains the past simple, regular and irregular, in An Incident with a Shelf (Philo & Sophia, Lesson 2).
Language: irregular verbs in the past simple
| Verb | Past simple | Example |
|---|---|---|
| begin · build · break | began · built · broke | The caliph began a new city. |
| come · fall · find | came · fell · found | The city fell into ruins. |
| give · leave · see · take | gave · left · saw · took | Soldiers took everything. |
| negative and question | didn’t / did + base verb | It didn’t last. Did they find gold? |
⚠️ After didn’t and did, use the base verb: They didn’t find, not ✗ didn’t found. And be careful: find → found, but found (to start a city) → founded.
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. Where did Abd al-Rahman III build the new city?
2. What does Madinat al-Zahra mean?
3. What happened in 1010?
4. When did archaeologists begin to dig?
Write the past simple.
5. Thousands of workers the palaces. (build)
6. From the top, the caliph the whole city. (see)
7. The city into ruins. (fall)
8. Archaeologists carved stone. (find)
Write one word.
9. The city didn’t long. (last)
10. When the soldiers break into the city?
11. Did builders the stones? Yes, they did. (take)
12. A legend says the caliph the city a woman’s name. (give)
Go there!
Visit: a bus goes from the centre of Córdoba to the museum. Start in the museum, then take the small shuttle bus up the hill to the ruins. Walk down through the terraces and look back at the mountains. Go in the morning: in summer it is very hot, and there is little shade.
Your task: write six sentences about a trip you took, with irregular verbs (went, saw, took, ate, found, came back).
It tells how a caliph built a city for his court in the hills, what ambassadors were said to have seen there, how it was looted within a lifetime and carried away stone by stone, and how archaeologists piece it together today from fragments, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.
It tells how a caliph built a city for his court in the hills, what ambassadors were said to have seen there, how it was looted within a lifetime and carried away stone by stone, and how archaeologists piece it together today from fragments, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.