Alcazaba in depth

Puerta de la Bóveda Vaída (Gate of the Sail Vault)

This 11th century tower with a bent entrance is called Puerta de la Bóveda Vaída (Gate of the Sail Vault), named after the beautiful brick vault that covers it. It is one of the most interesting defensive systems found in the fortification. The architect and great specialist Leopoldo Torres Balbás believed that this defensive system had already been described in the Hellenistic treatises, and could have been imported from the Byzantine Empire. The configuration of the passage forces a sharp turn, which means that as you enter you cannot see the exit.

The passage through the gate is made of a succession of arches. The first, which was renovated in the 16th century, is a semi-circular arch made out of brick; the second, which is a structural arch that defines the space of the vault, is a horseshoe arch from the 11th century; the third, on the other side of the square, is also a horseshoe arch from the 11th century, and rests on shafts of reutilised stone. Next, there is another horseshoe arch with stone and brick voussoirs that are horizontal in the lower section, dating back to the 11th century, which opens to a vaulted space at the exit of the tower. It rests on large shafts of reutilised Roman columns. It is interesting to observe this succession of roofs.

The whole lower part of the tower is solid, with access originally being through the small door from the wall-walk towards the interior of the tower. In the bent passage you can see how in some cases the rock has been lowered and in others the gaps in the rock have been filled with rammed earth or masonry in order to provide a more regular finish to its interior. It uses shafts of columns reused from Roman buildings as a construction material. The upper part of the tower and the room found there were restored in the 1940s.

Puerta de las Columnas (Gate of the Columns)

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This gate has direct access. It consists of three arches in total. The first is a brick entrance with reutilised Roman white marble shafts, as well as Corinthian capitals that clearly did not belong to these shafts; the second is an interior horseshoe arch, supported on pilasters; and the third is the exit, which is truly beautiful: under a load relieving lintel, a horseshoe arch with an alfiz (moulding that encloses the outward side of an arch) has alternating stone and brick voussoirs, achieving a two-tone effect that imitates the characteristics of Caliphate arches, such as those found in the Mosque of Cordoba, which are painted red and white. The masonry of the walls gives it great plasticity.

Torre del Cristo (Tower of Christ)

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This door gives access to the lower precinct. Inside it is the second bent entrance, a Taifa construction that was renovated in the Nasrid period. The entrance arch, with horizontal voussoirs in the lower section and an alfiz, is made of brick, and its keystone is a stone voussoir into which a key has been sculpted. This can also be found in the Puerta de la Justicia (Gate of Justice) in the Alhambra of Granada, where there is also a depiction of a hand on another arch. The exact meaning of this symbol is not known. It was used mainly by the Nasrids in both monuments, and it may have represented the power to open and close the doors of the sky that was granted to Mohammed, according to the Quran. It is, in any case, an old symbol imported to the peninsula, as the Tariq standard also depicted a key. It was popularised by Washington Irving in his Tales of the Alhambra, since in one of them he proposes that the Alhambra would collapse and disappear on the day the hand reaches the key. We do not know if at one time there was a hand, which is identified as the Hand of Fatima, whose five fingers symbolise the pillars of Islam (Declaration of Faith, Prayer, Fasting, Charity and Pilgrimage to Mecca), also engraved somewhere in the Alcazaba.

Above the entrance arch there are two stone corbels, the remains of a defensive machicolation, which today hold a fragmented coat of arms, placed there during the restoration that took place in the 1940s. The gate, also covered by a sail vault, is made up of a series of arches: the entrance, already mentioned above; a small space covered by a barrel vault to bridge the difference in level; the interior structural arch, which supports the vault that covers the passage, and the exit, both horseshoe arches; another vaulted space; and the final arch at the exit of the tower. The central sail vault, made of brick, preserves the remains of the decoration it had, painted in almagra (deep ochre): in its centre there is geometric lacería (regular interlacing patterns) surrounded by a stone ashlar bond. During the restorations of the 1940s, the southern white wall was painted with lacería, perhaps with the intention of restoring it. However, this did not occur.

On the left wall, before leaving the tower, you can see the interior of the tower, made of stretcher and header ashlar masonry from the Taifa period. Here, like in some other points along the route, you can clearly see the problems arising from the use of this stone that has afflicted it since ancient times – it is sandstone from the seabed, incorporating many fossils, which darkens and detaches itself while at the same time its interior decomposes, leaving it very vulnerable. No doubt this is what motivated the new material – the masonry that covered all the Taifa work during the Nasrid period.

The name Puerta del Cristo (Gate of Christ) comes from an altarpiece with a figure of Christ that was inside, in the niche that is still visible today, which turned the space into a kind of street chapel from the 17th century. Until the beginning of the 20th century, this Christ also had three ostrich eggs, possibly an offering from some traveller to exotic lands. Since ancient times these have symbolised the rebirth of life, since ostrich chicks are born from eggs without being incubated by their mother, only requiring the heat of the sun. After the restoration, the altarpiece was removed in the 1960s, leaving the space empty. The Tower had been converted into a dwelling and the upper area had to be demolished, meaning that everything above the height of the window is a new construction.

Torre del Homenaje

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The keep, now an imposing ruin, is located in the upper corner of the precinct. It was initially built during the Taifa period, with a large brick arch on its eastern face, which could have been an access to the interior of the original Alcazaba that was independent from the madina access, prior to the renovations carried out by Badis in 1057. During the Nasrid period, it was filled in throughout its lower area and resurfaced in order to give it greater thickness, and it occupied part of one of the 11th-century houses of the Barrio de Viviendas (Neighbourood of Dwellings) located in the interior area. The lower part conserves the works of all the different periods, which is why there are some spaces that are built of ashlar, others that are built of brick, and on its south face the rammed earth can be clearly seen.

When the restoration of the monument first started, a project was implemented for the integral recovery of the Torre del Homenaje. The initial plan was to build three floors and finish it off with a rooftop terrace that would serve as a viewpoint over the city. However, its ruins were so complex and there were so few documents that could provide information about its original appearance that it was decided to instead respect the ruins and only consolidate them, leaving them in that romantic and evocative state that they are in today, with their original window open to the sky.

Torre del Tiro

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This is another tower that has not been rebuilt. Nowadays, it is a large solid cube, mostly made out of rammed earth. There was a stretch of wall that originated at this tower and dropped down to the wall that surrounded the city. The remains of another tower, which formed a part of this wall, was discovered a few years ago, located almost at the level of the upper part of the Roman Theatre, which confirmed the layout that appeared in the historical plans.

Plaza de Armas

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This esplanade is nowadays fully landscaped with a beautiful Hispanic-Arab garden, and is known as Plaza de Armas, also called Plaza de San Gabriel during Christian times. The garden was designed by the architect Fernando Guerrero-Strachan Rosado. The architect based his work on the engravings that exist depicting Malaga in the 16th century, and he gave the space a pergola that he interpreted as being there. When the Plaza de Armas was restored, the remains of two Christian burials were found, which must have belonged to the Parish Church of Saint Louis, the former mosque of the Alcazaba, which was consecrated to Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse, the patron saint of the day the Catholic Monarchs entered the city (19 August). This esplanade was fortified on its southern front in order to install a battery of small calibre cannons, since the Muslim construction could not support the vibration that occurred when firing them. When we look out from this bastion we get another perspective of the entrance fortifications, and of the line that the sea must have had, and we can really appreciate the construction of the corner of the Torre del Cristo, reinforced with small and regular ashlars in a stretcher and header bond.

The most striking feature of the Plaza de Armas is the ornamental richness offered by the simple materials, stone and brick, combined in a geometrical design, with the central area recessed, like a garden with crossing paths. The garden is furrowed with channels that lead the water from the upper area of the palace to the fountain that forms the centre of the garden, framed by four flowerbeds containing low hedges.

The Plaza de Armas is a surprise to visitors, since it is the first sight of a landscaped space, with beautiful panoramic views over the port of the city, rather than merely a defensive space, as has been the case until now along the route. We have no information regarding how it may have been arranged during the Arab period. The fountain in the centre dates back to the 19th century and was brought here from the gardens of the secondary school located on Calle Gaona, where it had been installed by the French during the Spanish War of Independence, in the former Convent of the Philippine Friars, since the French had used it as an official building during the occupation of Malaga. With the modern development of the secondary school and the need for a sports area, the garden was renovated for school use. At that time the fountain was installed in the precinct that was being recovered, at the same time as the other three fountains it contains.

Gate of the Quarters of Granada

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Also known as Puerta del Tinel or Puerta de los Arcos (Gate of the Arches), since ancient times. This great tower was almost completely demolished in 1854, due to the ruin of the entire upper area, leaving just the large ashlars that make up the lower areas and the bases of the arches. However, it was possible to rebuild it following an 1839 engraving published by Francisco Guillén Robles in Málaga musulmana. This is a double gate with direct access, meaning it has a first passage, then a small courtyard, and then a second passage, with a wall that cuts it off, forcing you to turn a sharp corner, this one under the open sky. This defensive system is very effective, because in the event that the first door in the first passage was breached, it allowed the defenders to defend the access by throwing different materials from the upper area, turning the small courtyard into a veritable mousetrap.

Here again, on the sides of the courtyard, we see how it was built directly on the slate of the hill, and at the exit, in the walls on the left, you can see the interior of the wall with ashlars arranged in a stretcher and header bond, characteristic of the Taifa work, and made out of fossiliferous stone that is highly degraded. The restoration of the Tower, completed in 1938, was the work of the architect Fernando Guerrero-Strachan, and involved the creation in its interior of spaces that were originally used as rooms for showing restored ceramic pieces. This powerful tower protects the western end of the upper precinct, forming the highest area of the hill, and perfectly adapted to its elongated shape.

Taifa Palace

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The Taifa Palace, or rather, the two palaces that still have preserved remains, are well differentiated. In the first place, we find a space that is called Patio de los Surtidores (Courtyard of the Jets of Water), which was the central courtyard of the Taifa Palace, formed by two pavilions to the north and south of the courtyard, of which only the southern one is preserved. Along with the Barrio de Viviendas, this is the most interesting space of the Alcazaba, with the greatest importance and richness in terms of the materials found.

The whole area was occupied in 1933 by small houses, with one of them conserving a Mudéjar ceiling. In this and two adjoining houses, the exploration began by chipping through plastered walls to see what they were made of. It came as a great surprise when a triple arch with an alfiz was found covered up in one of the houses’ walls. The photos of its discovery are impressive. We must not forget that it is always better to adapt what is already there to new needs rather than have it knocked down and rebuilt again, especially in a place as inaccessible as the highest precinct of the fortress. This is the area that was initially conserved for the Governor’s dwelling, and when he moved his residence to the lower area, the space was occupied by commoner dwellings.

The southern portico of the Taifa Palace has a room that is accessed from the wall-walk next to the Torre Maldonado (Maldonado Tower) though a large arch that used to have a door. The large stone hinges that held the door leaves are still visible, both on the floor and in the area above. There are also open taqas (small niches) in the walls. This gives access to a room that, in the passage to the portico that opens out on to the courtyard, has a triple horseshoe arch with an alfiz that follows the Caliphate models of the Salón Rico (Rich Hall) of the palatine city of Madinat al-Zahra, with the classic bond of red and white voussoirs, which are carved with arabesque decorative motifs, along with the intrados of the arches. The cylindrical columns are delicate and have no base, and are made of wood covered with plaster, with a Granada-style capital, above which there is a cymatium made of reddish stone.

From the Patio de los Surtidores, a Nasrid portico precedes the access to the interior of the room, formed by three arches, with the middle arch being the largest. The portico was renovated in the 13th - 14th century, but it already existed in the 11th century, as can be seen by the fact that the stone columns are supported on the bases of columns from the Caliphate period, indicating that it must therefore be a reconstruction. The portico consists of three scalloped arches and rests on two stone columns. One of the columns is original (like its capital), quadrangular and carved with plant motifs, and is very rigid in its composition, similar to other contemporary work in the Alhambra. On the cymatiums there is still a phrase from the Quran written in letters from the Nasrid period, in white on red: “There is no victor but Allah”. At first, in order to give the sensation of symmetry, a similar shape to this southern pavilion was recreated by planting cypresses to replicate the architecture.

The Taifa Palace also has another element of great interest, which is the Pabellón de Arcos Lobulados (Pavilion of Lobed Arches), found to the right. This small pavilion is also original. The only unclear aspect of its structure is the enclosure that must have existed between it and the wall-walk, since it could not have been open in the past, as the whole palace was a closed area. The pavilion is decorative, which means the arches are not structural, and its purpose must have been to give greater political representation to this area of the palace, perhaps destined for government work, emulating the splendid art from the Caliphate period, but with the much poorer materials that were being used during the Taifa period. Some authors ascribe it to the Hammudid period, and others to the Zirid period. In any case, it dates back to the middle of the 11th century (between 1026 and 1057), and the decoration serves the same purpose in both dynasties: legitimising their power by emulating the power of the Caliphate of Cordoba.

Once the rooms have been passed through, or when entering through their original access via the wall-walk, we arrive at a courtyard-terrace that opens out over the city, with the Torre de Maldonado on its righthand side. This imposing tower belongs to the defensive zone and was remodelled in the Almohad period, when it was endowed with the two beautiful marble columns, with Quranic text inscribed on them (“Allah! There is no god but He, Lord of the Throne, the Exalted One” on one, and “Allah! There is no god but Allah. I trust in Him, and I will return to Him” on the other), and with the triple arches through which it is accessed, which give it a certain representative character. During the demolitions, the room, which also had to be freed from modern dwellings, was found to have the appearance that we see today, once some openings in the exterior walls that had been turned into windows had been closed off. The arches and columns are intact under the modern plaster, and it also preserves in situ a very schematic band of arabesque decoration, and under it an inscribed strip with the text “The perpetual glory of Allah. The eternal glory of Allah” on the inner side of the arch.

From the west window of the tower or from the wall-walk itself, it is interesting to observe a solid tower in which the base and interior made of ashlar from the Taifa period can be seen very well, along with the subsequent masonry covering from the Nasrid period. We can also see how the construction took place directly on the rock, as we have already observed at several points along the route.

Through the same corridor that, in the manner of a portico on the south side, precedes the Hall of the Taifa Palace, access is gained through a beautifully closed horseshoe arch of stone voussoirs, which gives way to the other spectacular hall of the complex, the Sala del Siglo XVI (Hall of the 16th Century) or Sala de la Armadura Mudéjar (Hall of the Mudéjar Ceiling), which remains in its place of origin. This room was remodelled by Mudéjar builders, and the windows that were opened in it must also belong to that time.

Nasrid Palace

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From the centre of the Patio de los Surtidores you can access the palace from the Nasrid period, arranged around two courtyards. The current access is a product of the restoration, since originally it must have had a bent entrance. However, since its location was not detected on the floors found during the excavations, it was decided to make an access that would facilitate the public’s visit.

The area of the Nasrid Palace appeared with very weak remains. The layout of the palace was found, with its doorways and pools, but the walls were barely 50 centimetres high. This matter motivated many discussions and speculation among the restoring architects and the authorities about whether it would be appropriate to recreate the whole space in a historicist way, in order to give it a museum use, or to consolidate the ruins and leave it as a garden. In the end they decided to go with the first option, and they based their work on the floor plans of the Granada palaces, with roofs and ceilings in some cases reused from other parts of the monument, recreating decorative elements from the fragments that had been preserved, but allowing freedom in terms of their placement. In the known historical plans, this space appeared only as a garden, and later it was occupied by streets and houses, without there being any trace left of the walls of its former structures.

The distribution was clear, with two courtyards with pavilions facing each other at the shorter ends (north-south), with porticoes with three arches, but it could not be ascertained whether they were supported by columns or pillars, what the arrangement of the alcove was, what the total height of the rooms was or what type of roof it had. It was equipped with doors and taqas in the style of the Taifa Palace.

The Patio de los Naranjos (Courtyard of Orange Trees) is set around two small pools, based on the traces of the originals discovered. The pavilions covered with domical vaults were painted by Hermenegildo Lanz, and the columns recreate those of the Nasrid palaces of Granada.

The second courtyard, the Patio de la Alberca (Courtyard of the Pool) or Patio del Arrayán (Myrtle Courtyard), is set around a large central pool whose waters mirror the architecture, surrounded on both sides by a myrtle hedge. At the northern end of the pavilion, a lookout tower was erected, after discovering remains and the base of the stairs. The room of the southern portico is covered by a wooden roof that was brought from the monument itself, from one of the rooms of the military pavilions demolished in the Tunnel area. The north wall of this Palace, currently occupied by exhibition halls, presents (in the last of these halls) an incredible example of the original walls, at this point bordering with the Barrio de Viviendas, which date back to both the 11th and 13th centuries. Original paving has also been preserved in the north room, as well as a complete room paved with large stone blocks in the north pavilion of this courtyard.

_{The information reflected in these texts has been taken from Fanny's book by CARRANZA SELL, Alcazaba de Málaga, Domus Aurea Collection, Esirtu Editions, Málaga, 2010.}