Dar al-Horra Palace

You’re now standing at the foot of the Dar al-Horra Palace, one of the last remaining traces of the medieval Muslim district that the Albaicín once was.

Built in the 15th century, this palace was the residence of Aisha, the mother of Boabdil.

You may be wondering who Boabdil was… He was the last Nasrid emir of Granada, and the last Muslim king of Spain. Quite the figure in Spanish history. He ruled the kingdom in its final days, before the arrival of the Catholic Monarchs. In fact, he was the one who surrendered to Ferdinand II and Isabella I when they came to conquer the Andalusian city in 1492. After his surrender, Boabdil went into exile, first in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and later in Morocco.

He remains a symbolic figure in Spanish history, viewed by some as a hero who fought to preserve his kingdom, and by others as the traitor who handed it over to Christian rule. Whichever way you see it, the Dar al-Horra Palace, perched at the highest point of the Albaicín, stands as a powerful testament to Nasrid art, and one of the few remaining examples of the architecture that defined medieval Granada.

Only a convent was added by Queen Isabella after the Reconquista. The rest has been remarkably well preserved, maintaining the appearance of an authentic Moorish palace, now a rare sight in Granada.