Albaicín

The Albaicín (Spanish pronunciation: [alβajˈθin]) or Albayzín (Arabic: ٱلْبَيّازِينْ‎) as it was known under Muslim rule, is a district of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past dating back to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1984, along with the Alhambra.

Albaicín
UNESCO World Heritage Site
View of the Albaicín
Official nameEl Albayzín
LocationGranada Province, Spain
Part ofAlhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada
CriteriaCultural: (i), (iii), (iv)
Reference314bis-002
Inscription1984 (8th session)
Extensions1994
Coordinates37°10′54″N 3°35′54″W
Location of Albaicín in Spain
Typical street of the Albaicín.
Sunset downhill the Albaicín.

History

The area that later became the Albayzín was first populated by the Iberians, the original inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula, with dispersed Roman settlements later appearing nearby. Nothing is known of its history before the arrival of the Muslim Berbers, so it is assumed that the city was abandoned after the fall of the Roman Empire until the founding of the Zirid kingdom in 1013, when its defensive walls were built. According to some linguists it owes its present name to the inhabitants of the city of Baeza, called "Beatia" by the Romans, who were banished after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa and settled here outside the walls. Other linguists assert that the name derives from the Arabic al-bayyāzīn (pronounced al-bayyīzīn with the imāla vowel-shift), meaning "suburb of falconers". However, the fact that in Andalusia there are many other neighborhoods with that name, including those in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Alhama de Granada, Salobreña, and Antequera, among others, casts doubt on this thesis. A more likely hypothesis is that the name of Albaicín derives from Arabic البائسين (al-bāʾisīn, 'the miserable' [plural]).[1]

The Albaicín, one of the oldest centers of Muslim culture in Granada, contains the Alhambra, the Realejo (which was the Jewish quarter), and the Arrabal de Bib-Arrambla, in the flat part of the city. Before the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula there were three small settlements in what is now the city of Granada and its surroundings:

  • Iliberis (Elvira), later called "Albaicín" and "Alcazaba"
  • Castilia, near the present town of Atarfe
  • Garnata, on the hill opposite the Alcazaba, which was more a neighborhood of Iliberis.

However, current archaeological research indicates the Madinat Ilbira (Medina Elvira) was located in Atarfe when that city's population was moved to the Albayzín after the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the 11th century. The inhabitants of Ilbira remained clients of the Berber Sinhaya and the Zirids until the capital of the Cora of Elvira was transferred to the Albayzín hill. The neighborhood had its greatest influence at the time of the Nasrids. The Albaicín maintains the urban layout of the Moorish period, with narrow streets winding in an intricate network that extends from the top at San Nicolás and through Calle Elvira, both located in Plaza Nueva, by the course of the river Darro.

The traditional type of house is the carmen, consisting of a freestanding house surrounded by a high wall that separates it from the street and including a small orchard or garden. The channeling and distribution of drinking water through pipes laid from wells was characteristic of this district; about 28 of these have been found, of which most are preserved but not in use because the pipes were broken over time.

In December 1499, the Albaicín was the starting point of a rebellion throughout Granada, triggered by the forced conversion of the Muslim population to Christianity.[2]

In 1994, the Albaicín was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO as an extension of the monuments of the Alhambra and the Generalife.[3]

Places of interest

In the Albaicín there are numerous monuments from different periods, mainly the Nasrid period and the Renaissance:

  • City walls of the Zirid Taifa period (11th century), standing in the Sacromonte and Albaicín areas
  • Puerta Nueva (or Puerta de las Pesas), historic city gate[4]
  • Fajalauza Gate in Cuesta de San Gregorio Alto, part of the city walls[5][6]
  • Alhacaba Towers, part of the city walls
  • Puerta de la Moneita, medieval city gate
  • Puerta de Elvira, at the beginning of Calle Elvira, part of the city walls
  • Church of El Salvador, in the Cuesta del Chapiz
  • Church of San Miguel Bajo, in the small square of San Miguel Bajo, with a Mudejar armor and a cistern of the 13th century.
  • Church of San Gregorio, at the beginning of the Cuesta de San Gregorio
  • Church of San Cristobal and viewpoint with the same name, in Crta. De Murcia
  • Church of San Luis, now in ruins
  • Church of San Juan de los Reyes, including an Almohad-era minaret, on San Juan de los Reyes street
  • The Great Mosque of Granada (Mezquita Mayor de Granada). Built in 2003, it is the first mosque constructed in Granada after the city came under Catholic control in 1492
  • Palace of Dar al-Horra, Aixa's residence, Muley Hacén's wife and the mother of Boabdil.
  • The Bañuelo (former Muslim bathhouse)
  • Almoravid minaret at the Church of San José
  • Trillo cistern
  • House of the Masks, in the street Pagés, what remains of the house of the poet Pedro Soto de Rojas (17th century)
  • House Yanguas (16th century), at San Buenaventura, a blend of Nasrid and Renaissance architecture; currently a tourist hotel
  • Church of Santa Ana, at the beginning of the Carrera del Darro
  • St. Peter & St. Paul, on the Carrera del Darro
  • Hermitage of San Miguel alto,San Miguel lane
  • Casa de Porras, in Placeta de Porras, Moorish house of the 16th century, today the University Cultural Center of the University of Granada
  • Casa del Almirante (Aragon), Calle San José, 16th century
  • Castril House (1539) in the Carrera del Darro, currently housing the Archaeological Museum of Granada
  • Lona House in Lona Lane, on the site of the former palace of the Zirid emirs
  • Cordova Palace (16th century) in the Cuesta del Chapiz, currently housing the Municipal Archives
  • Casa del Chapiz: the mansion was built on the remains of a Moorish palace of the 14th century, preserving part of the layout of the gardens and some elements that were utilized when it was rebuilt in the early 16th century by the morisco Lorenzo el Chapiz, after whom the house and street are named
  • Casa de Zafra, 14th-century Nasrid mansion, re-opened as an Interpretative Center[7]
  • Statue of the artist G.O.W. Apperley RA RI (1884-1960), on an unnamed square off Calle Gloria
  • Houses in the Albaicín
  • Typical house façade in Cuesta de Alhacaba
  • Calderería street
  • Church of San Nicolas and Albaicín from Alhambra palace
  • View of Saint Nicholas church and the Albaicín mosque
  • Albaicín
  • Alhambra and Albaicín by night
  • Narrow alley

19th century paintings of Albayzín
  • A balcony in the Albayzín by painter M. Arroyo Fernandez in 1891, stored at Biblioteca Provincial de Granada
  • Casa del Chapiz in the Albaicín by Francesc Pi i Margall and Francesc Xavier Parcerisa in 1850, published in the work Recuerdos y bellezas de España
  • Procession of the Viaticum on the street of Zafra, the Albaicín by Manuel Ruiz Sanchez Morales (1853-1922), stored at Biblioteca Provincial de Granada
  • Tower of San Lorenzo in the Albaicín. Drawing by Federico Ruiz (1837-1868), engraving by Edward Skill (1831-1873), published in the Spanish magazine El Museo Universal

See also

References
  1. Arab World. 8–14. 1962. p. 23.
  2. Carr, Matthew (2009). Blood and Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain. New Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-1-59558-361-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. "Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada". UNESCO Culture Sector. Retrieved 2013-02-09.
  4. Plano árabe de Granada de Luis Seco de Luna
  5. GALLEGO Y BURÍN, ANTONIO. "Guía artística e histórica de la ciudad de Granada", página, 781. Edición: Guía de Granada 1946.
  6. Granada, Ele Medios, Álvaro de Bazán 9 3º Derecha, 18010. "Puerta de las Pesas :: AGENCIA albaicín GRANADA". www.albaicin-granada.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  7. Galán, Daniel (2015-11-04). "La casa de Zafra: 6 razones para visitar este monumento del Albaicín". EL VIAJE DEL MAPACHE. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
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