Alcazaba of Málaga

The Alcazaba of Málaga is a Moorish palace-fortress on the slope of Monte Gibralfaro, above Calle Alcazabilla in the Centro Histórico of Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. Most of the present structure was built in the 11th century under the Hammudid and Zirid taifa rulers, on the site of an earlier Umayyad fortification, and was extended by the Nasrid dynasty of Granada in the 13th and 14th centuries. Málaga fell to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella in August 1487 after a long siege, and the Christian rulers adapted parts of the complex as a residence and garrison. The fortress then declined and was partly built over until restoration began in the 1930s, led by the architect Leopoldo Torres Balbás and continued by later campaigns. Today the complex is organised in three defensive enclosures linked by a zigzag climb of gates, including the Puerta de las Columnas, which reuses Roman marble columns, and the Arco del Cristo. Visitors pass courtyards, gardens, fountains and cisterns before reaching the palatial quarters of the upper enclosure, with arcaded patios, carved plasterwork and a reflecting pool echoing Granada's Alhambra on a smaller scale. A museum in the Nasrid palace displays ceramics, architectural fragments and everyday objects from the Islamic period, arranged in a broadly chronological display with Arabic and Spanish inscriptions explained in panels. A covered passage called the Coracha once linked the Alcazaba to the Castillo de Gibralfaro above, protecting the route between the two strongholds. Roman remains, including the theatre at the foot of the hill, were quarried to supply building stone, which explains the reused columns and capitals visible in the walls. Preservation is generally good, although some upper walls remain reconstructions. The site is run by the Málaga city council, which sells a combined ticket with Gibralfaro.