Islamic Granada — the Nasrid kingdom

• Nasrid — the dynasty that ruled Granada from the 1230s until 1492. Not “Nazarite”.
• Alcazaba — the fortress at the end of a palace-city. The Alhambra has one; Almeria has another.
• Corral — here, a warehouse-yard for merchants. The Corral del Carbon was an inn for goods.

The Alhambra is a fortified palace-city: the Alcazaba at one end, the Palaces of Comares and the Lions, and the Museo de la Alhambra in the same precinct. The Generalife is the summer estate above it, with gardens and a long pool. Treat them as one ticket. Detail: the Alhambra.

• Alhambra — map
• Generalife — map

Down in the city, two lesser palaces belong to the same court: the Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo, in the old orchards of Almanxarra, and the Alcazar Genil. The House of Los Girones is a thirteenth-century mansion. The Castle of La Silla del Moro sat on the ridge above the Generalife and closed the defence.

• Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo — map
• Alcazar Genil — map
• House of Los Girones — map
• Silla del Moro — map

The Albaicin was the old medina on the hill facing the Alhambra. Walk the gates first: Monaita, Elvira, Fajalauza. El Salvador stands on the site of the main mosque. Daralhorra and Santa Catalina de Zafra keep Nasrid houses. There are ruined thirteenth-century baths. Wells sit in the streets; they are not a separate monument.

• Gates of the old citadel — map
• Church of El Salvador — map
• Daralhorra — map
• Santa Catalina de Zafra — map
• Albaicin baths — map

Below the hill, San Jose keeps a caliphal minaret. San Juan de los Reyes keeps a Nasrid one. The Baths of El Nogal are eleventh century. The Corral del Carbon is a fourteenth-century merchant yard near the cathedral.

• San Jose — map
• San Juan de los Reyes — map
• Baths of El Nogal — map
• Corral del Carbon — map

West of the city, at Atarfe, the site of Madinat Ilbira (Medina Elvira) marks the town that mattered before Granada rose. It was destroyed in 1010. There is little standing. Alhama de Granada keeps important baths in the gorge.

• Medina Elvira, Atarfe — map
• Baths, Alhama de Granada — map

East, Guadix has an alcazaba. Baza has baths in the old Jewish quarter. Jerez del Marquesado, Aldeire and Hueneja keep fragments of other baths. Finana has a hermitage on an old mosque.

• Alcazaba, Guadix — map
• Baths, Baza — map
• Finana — map

In Almeria the Alcazaba is the standing fortress of the tenth and eleventh centuries. San Juan el Nuevo holds remains of the Friday mosque. Baths survive at the spas of Alhama de Almeria and Pechina (Sierra Alhamilla), at Beneji in Berja, and at Celin in Dalias.

• Alcazaba, Almeria — map
• San Juan el Nuevo — map
• Alhama de Almeria and Pechina — map
• Baths of Beneji, Berja — map
• Baths of Celin, Dalias — map