At this years European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) Ceremony, which took place at the Penafiel Municipal Museum in Portugal on 19 May, the EMYA Judging Panel was delighted to announce the Museo de Madinat al-Zahra in Cordoba in Spain as the European Museum of the Year 2012 for its outstanding achievements for public quality and excellence.
The Museum represents a visual memory of the mixed and diverse past of Andalucia aiming to build a bridge between different cultures in contemporary Europe. Together with the partially recovered and restored archaeological site it represents a magnificent, complex city, its supporting infrastructure, buildings and gardens, as well as the social organisation and everyday life of its 10,000 inhabitants.