خلافة قرطبة الأندلسية

Founded by Abd al-Rahman I ('The Falcon of Quraysh'), who escaped the Abbasid overthrow of Damascus, this western Umayyad realm blossomed into Europe's greatest center of civilization. In 929 CE, Abd al-Rahman III proclaimed Cordoba a Caliphate. With paved and lit streets, running water, the legendary 400,000-manuscript library of Al-Hakam II, the palatial city of Madinat al-Zahra, and pioneering luminaries like surgeon Al-Zahrawi and polymath Ibn Rushd, Cordoba illuminated Europe during its Dark Ages.