Moorish Granada

Northern walls & ramparts, Tower of Tribute (left) & Broken Tower (right) (Alcazaba, Alhambra, Granada)

Courtyard of the Lions (Alhambra, Granada)

Introduction

Granada was already inhabited in the Bronze Age. In the Roman era, there was a significant town on the Albaicín hill. Following the Umayyad conquest, the most important town in the region was Madinat Ilbira (Elvira), located on a low plain some kilometres northwest of Granada. A smaller, predominantly Jewish settlement called Gharnata was situated either on the Albaicín hill or on the south side of the Darro River.

The significance of Gharnata grew in the early 11th century when it became the capital of the Taifa of Granada, ruled by the Zirid dynasty. Since Elvira was difficult to protect from attacks, the Zirids relocated their residence to the higher ground of Granada and built a citadel-palace, known as the Old Citadel, on the Albaicín hill. The city also included two smaller fortresses on the Sabika and Mauror hills to the south, along with parts of the surrounding plains. Until the 1066 Granada massacre, it was a centre of Jewish Sephardi culture and scholarship, largely due to the influence of the Jewish administrator Samuel ha-Nagid, who acted as the de facto ruler of the kingdom.

Some Zirid remains can still be found in the Albaicín. Architecturally, these structures built upon and refined the styles developed under the Caliphate of Córdoba, while also integrating new techniques from other parts of the Islamic world.

From 1090, Granada was ruled by the Almoravids, and from 1166 by the Almohads. After the collapse of Almohad rule in 1228, Ibn al-Ahmar (Muhammad I) of the Nasrid dynasty rose to power and established the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim state on the Iberian peninsula. In contrast to the Zirid period, Granada became more uniformly Muslim and Arabic-speaking at that time, largely due to the influx of refugees from territories recently conquered by Castile and Aragon. It emerged as an important intellectual and cultural centre within the Islamic world.

Ibn al-Ahmar moved the royal palace from the Old Citadel to Sabika hill, where construction began on the New Citadel, which would eventually become the Alhambra. The complex was expanded and modified under successive rulers, developing into a self-contained palace-city with a mosque, hammams, residential quarters, workshops, roads, and a sophisticated water supply system. Its most celebrated palaces date from the 14th century. To the east of the Alhambra lies the Generalife, a summer palace of the Nasrid rulers. These two complexes represent the most outstanding examples of Islamic architecture in the West.

The lower city was centred around the Great Mosque (located on the site of the modern-day Granada Cathedral), with other important structures, including the madrasa, funduq (caravanserai), bazaar, and maristan (hospital), nearby.

Nasrid architecture differed from earlier Moorish styles in its focus on refined aesthetics, intricate detail, and luxury. Nasrid palaces used courtyards as central spaces, around which halls and rooms were arranged. The courtyards blended architecture with water features and gardens, symbolising paradise. The clever use of water and light created tranquil spaces harmoniously connected with the surrounding environment.

Decoration was concentrated on the interiors. Lower walls (dadoes) featured tile mosaics, or zellij, while upper walls were adorned with highly detailed stucco work. Common decorative motifs included geometric designs, arabesques, and Arabic calligraphy. A distinctive feature of Nasrid interiors was the use of honeycomb vaults, or muqarnas, and lambrequin arches, which added to the architectural richness of the palaces.

In 1492, Muhammad XII (Boabdil) surrendered the Emirate of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, marking the end of Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula. This event was followed by the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas, setting the stage for Spain’s emergence as a global power.

Sites

My portfolios include images of significant Zirid and Nasrid sites in Granada. The names of these sites are from the Christian period, in Spanish or their English translations, rather than the original Arabic names.

Monaita Gate | Calle Carril de la Lona (north) | 11th century; later alterations
Elvira Gate | Plaza del Triunfo & Calle Horno de la Merced | 11th century; 1330s-1350s; other alterations
Gate of the Boards (Bridge of the Judge) | Calle Bañuelo (opposite the south end) | Alí Ben Mohamed Ben Tauba, 1055 (arch); 13th century (tower)
Crimson Towers | Callejón Niño del Royo (west) | late 8th or early 9th century; 11th century; mid-13th century; other additions & alterations
Murabitin Mosque (Minaret of San José) | Calle San José & Placeta del Almirante | 11th century (base); 1517-1525 (bell tower)
Bañuelo | Carrera del Darro & Calle Bañuelo | mid- or late 11th or 12th century
Alhambra | Calle Real de la Alhambra | 11th century (New Citadel); after 1238 (Alcazaba); 1270s-1290s (Upper Partal Palace, Palace of the Abencerrajes & Palace of the Convent of San Francisco); 1300s (Alhambra Mosque, Partal Palace & Gate of Wine); 1310s-1320s (Comares Palace, Mexuar & Rawda); 1330s-1350s (Mexuar remodeling; Comares Tower & Hall of the Ambassadors; Partal Palace oratory; Tower of the Pointed Battlements; Tower of the Captive Woman; Broken Tower); 1348 (Gate of Justice); 1362-1365 (Mexuar remodeling; Hall of the Two Sisters); 1362-1367 (Courtyard of the Myrtles decoration; Hall of the Ambassadors decoration); 1370 (Comares Façade); 1360s-1380s (Palace of the Lions; Palace of the Convent of San Francisco decoration; Gate of Wine decoration); 1393-1394 (Tower of the Princesses); late 15th & 16th centuries (reinforcement of fortifications); Pedro Machuca, 1527-1637 (Palace of Charles V); after 1528 (Courtyard of Lindaraja); 1540 (dismantling of Council Hall dome); 1590 (destruction of Hall of the Muqarnas ceiling); other alterations
Generalife | northeast of Alhambra | late 13th or early 14th century (original structure); second half of 14th & early 15th century (Nasrid additions & alterations); 1494 (upper storey of Northern Pavilion); 16th to 20th centuries (other additions & alterations)
Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo | Plaza de los Campos 6 | 1283-1302; 19th & 20th centuries (alterations)
Corral del Carbón | Calle Mariana Pineda 12 | before 1336; after mid-16th century (alterations)
Alcaicería | Calle Alcaicería | 14th century; Salvador Amador, Juan Pugnaire, Baltasar Romero & José Contreras, 1843-1844 (reconstruction)
Madrasa | Calle Oficios 14 | 1349 (prayer room); 1500-1513 (Hall of the Knights); José de Bada y Navajas, 1722-1729 (Baroque alterations)
Bibarrambla Gate | Plaza de Bibarrambla (original location); Cuesta de Gomérez & Calle Real de la Alhambra (current location) | 1330s-1350s; Leopoldo Torres Balbás, 1933 or 1935 (reconstruction)
Maristan | Calle Bañuelo | 1365-1367; since 2020 (reconstruction)
House of Zafra | Calle Portería Concepción 8 | 14th & 15th centuries
House of the Free Woman (Dar al-Horra) | Callejón Ladrón del Agua | early 15th century; later alterations
House of the Gold Furnace (Casa Horno del Oro) | Calle Horno del Oro | late 15th century; 16th century (upper floor)

The portfolios could be expanded with photos of the following structures of the Alhambra:

The Gate of Arms, the Gate of the Arrabal, and the outlying fortifications
The private passage between the Alhambra and the Generalife
The interiors of the northeastern towers
The hydraulic system

Other sites missing from the portfolios include:

Zirid fortifications: the northern walls of the Albaicín and the Gate of the Weights
Zirid and Nasrid cisterns: the King’s Cistern, the Cistern of San Miguel, and the Trillo Cistern
Almohad mosques: the Great Mosque of the Albaicín (the Church of San Salvador) and the Minaret of San Juan
Almohad baths: the Baths of Hernando de Zafra and the Baths of the Albaicín
Almohad and Nasrid palaces: the Alcázar Genil, the house on Calle del Cobertizo de Santa Inés, and the Chapiz House