Albaizin and Sacromonte

Barrio del Albaicín

It was populated in Iberian period and Roman dispersed settlement existed. There is no data before the arrival of the Zirid Berber Islamic settlement, so it is assumed that the city was abandoned since the end of the Roman Empire until the founding of the Zirid kingdom in 1013 when it was surrounded by big walls. According to some linguists it owes its present name to the inhabitants of the city of Baeza who banished her after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, settled in this area of Granada outside the existing walls. Other linguists claim that the name comes from the Arabic al-bayyāzīn (as its pronounced with impala, al-bayyīzīn),meaning the suburb of falconers. However, the fact that in Andalusia there are many other neighborhoods with that name, in sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz), Baena (Córdoba), Sabot (Jaén) Huéneja (Granada) Constantina (Sevilla) …Is one of the oldest centers of Muslim culture in Granada, with the Alhambra, the Realejo and Arrabal de Bib-Arrambla, on the flat part of the city. Before the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, in what is now the city of Granada and its surroundings there were three small populations:

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

However, after these classic statements, current archaeological research, Madinat Ilbira located in Atarfe until the 11th century when that city was moved to the Albaicin after the fall of the Caliphate and the insecurity it generates. The inhabitants of Ilbira undergo as clients Sinhaya and ziríes and it is decided the transfer of the capital of the Cora de Elvira to Hill Albaicín In the 756 Arabs are already in the peninsula. It is the time of Independent Emirate. The Arab population is manifested in two centers: the Albaicín and the Alhambra.This neighborhood had its greatest influence at the time of the Nazari. The Albaicín maintains the urban fabric of the Moorish period, with narrow streets, in an intricate network that extends from the top (St. Nicholas) through the course of the river Darro and Calle Elvira, both located in Plaza Nueva. In December 1499, Albaicín become the starting point of a rebellion  throughout Granada, which were triggered by the forced conversions of the Muslim population to Christianity.^[1] The traditional type of house is the carmen, consisting of a free house surrounded by a high wall that separates it from the street and includes a small orchard or garden.It was characteristic of this district the channeling and distribution of drinking water through wells; in all there were found about 28; of which a large majority is preserved but is not in use because its pipes are broken over time. In 1994, the Albaicín was declared World Heritage by  UNESCO as an extension of the monuments of the Alhambra and Generalize. Monuments:

• Muralla zirí
• Puerta Nueva o de las Pesas,
• Puerta de Fajalauza, in Cuesta de San Gregorio Alto.
• Torres de la Alhacaba.
• Puerta Monaita, in Carril de la Lona,.
• Puerta de Elvira, in Calle Elvira.
• Iglesia de El Salvador, in la Cuesta del Chapiz.
• Iglesia de San Juan de los Reyes, in  San Juan de los Reyes.
• El Bañuelo.
• Alminar de Almorabitun.
• Aljibe de Trillo.

Sacromonte