Skip to main content

Articles · Early Islamic, Zirid & Almohad

Early Islamic Granada: Articles on the Zirid Era

Medina Elvira leads until 1013; then the Zirids take the hilltop and 1066 ends the Jewish Golden Age.

These articles cover the Zirid city on the Albaicín hill, from Medina Elvira's decline to the walls and cisterns that remain, and the Jewish Golden Age that ended in 1066. For readers who want Granada's story before the Alhambra.

10 articles · 711–1238

Early Islamic, Zirid & Almohad in Granada, 711–1238

Articles on Early Islamic, Zirid & Almohad

Twelfth-century Granada at dusk, an Almohad-era courtyard with a woman's silhouette reading a manuscript by lamplight, evoking Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rakuniyya, warm amber light and carved plaster arches

Hafsa bint al-Hajj: Granada's Poet of Love and Loss

James Walker

Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rakuniyya, Granada's last major Andalusi woman poet: her Almohad-era love affair, her lover's execution and her Marrakech teaching years.

Read
Alcazar Genil Granada: central qubba between two lateral pavilions behind a restored Andalusi garden of myrtle, lavender and pomegranate trees, soft morning light

Alcazar Genil, Granada's Riverside Palace That Lost Its Pool

James Walker Updated

Alcazar Genil in Granada today: one 13th-century qubba, two 1892 wings, a garden and the great pool inside a metro station. Free weekday visits, how to go.

Read
Weathered Granada city walls of the Zirid circuit rising above Albaicín rooftops, a rammed-earth tower catching late-afternoon light against a pale sky

Granada City Walls: Tracing the Zirid Circuit

James Walker

Granada's oldest walls aren't at the Alhambra. Trace the 11th-century Zirid circuit through the Albaicín: surviving towers, vanished gates, Puerta de Elvira.

Read
Samuel Ha-Nagid depicted as vizier and army commander of Zirid Granada, an 11th-century Jewish statesman in Moorish court dress with a sword and inkwell

Samuel Ha-Nagid: Granada's Warrior Poet-Vizier

James Walker

Samuel ha-Nagid fled Córdoba in 1013, rose from a Málaga spice shop to command Granada's Muslim army as vizier, and helped define Hebrew's Golden Age poetry.

Read
1066 Granada massacre scene in Jewish history: a mob attacking the Jewish quarter of Nasrid-era Granada at dusk, the Alhambra hill silhouetted in the background, smoke rising over whitewashed rooftops, sombre red and amber tones

1066 Granada Massacre: When the Jewish Golden Age Ended in a Day

James Walker Updated

The 1066 Granada massacre killed Joseph ha-Nagid and thousands of the city's Jews in a single day, ending three decades of Jewish power under Samuel ha-Nagid.

Read
Reconstructed floor plan of Granada's Great Mosque overlaid on the modern cathedral footprint, showing the 11-nave hypostyle hall with 130 columns and the Torre Turpiana minaret

Before the Cathedral: Granada's Lost Great Mosque

James Walker Updated

Granada's Great Mosque stood under today's cathedral until 1704. The mosque you can visit is the 2003 Mezquita Mayor in the Albaicín, free to enter, no ticket.

Read
Cobblestone Carrera del Darro street Granada medieval with Darro river flowing alongside and Alhambra towers rising above the south bank at golden hour

Carrera del Darro: Granada's Medieval Street Explained

James Walker Updated

Carrera del Darro history: 11th-century Moorish bridges, El Bañuelo bathhouse, a 1539 Renaissance palace, and Granada's only open stretch of the Darro river.

Read
Medieval stone towers and narrow winding streets of Granada's Albaicín quarter, the site of the Zirid dynasty's alcazaba cadima fortress, with dark stone walls and green vegetation against a bright Spanish sky

Zirid Dynasty Granada: The Berbers Who Built a City

James Walker Updated

The Zirid dynasty ruled Granada from 1013 to 1090: Berber founders of the Albaicín's walls, cisterns, and streets, and patrons of Samuel HaNagid's Golden Age.

Read
Entrance archway of the Aljibe del Rey medieval cistern in the Albaicín, Granada, Spain, whitewashed walls and narrow cobbled street catching warm late-afternoon light, the albaicin aljibes cisterns granada stone arch in close detail

Albaicín Aljibes: The Medieval Cisterns Under Granada's Streets

James Walker Updated

Twenty-six medieval cisterns survive beneath the Albaicín, built 10th–15th centuries. Fed by the Acequia de Aynadamar from Alfacar into every home and mosque.

Read
Narrow lane in the Realejo Jewish quarter of Granada climbing toward the Alhambra hill, white-walled houses and walled carmen gardens, former site of the medieval judería Garnata al-Yahud

Realejo Jewish Quarter Granada: A Neighbourhood Built on Erasure

James Walker Updated

The Realejo was Granada's medieval Jewish quarter, home to Samuel HaNagid. Walk it today and you're crossing the site of a 1066 massacre and a 1492 expulsion.

Read

See Early Islamic, Zirid & Almohad on the timeline, with its people and monuments

Go deeper