medina1
/mɛˈdiːnə
/noun
The old walled part of a North African town.Within the walls of the medina, the buildings close in on you, and you are taken into cool shadow....
- In the centre, the old town, or medina, is walled in by ramparts and gives it an historical and cultural dimension.
- The medina, the medieval old town, is the one place where people do leave their homes, because tanks cannot get down the narrow twisting alleys.
Origin
Arabic, literally 'town'.
Medina2
/mɛˈdiːnə/A city in western Saudi Arabia, around an oasis some 320 km (200 miles) north of Mecca; population 1,010,000 (est. 2007). Arabic name al-Madinah.
Medina was the refuge of Muhammad’s infant Muslim community from its removal from Mecca in ad 622 until its return there in 630. It is Muhammad’s burial place and the site of the first Islamic mosque, constructed around his tomb. It is considered by Muslims to be the second most holy city after Mecca, and a visit to the prophet’s tomb at Medina often forms a sequel to the formal pilgrimage to Mecca