It is the name given to a citadel built by the Muslims in Al-Andalus, as it was known in the Iberian territory dominated by this city in the Middle Ages.
Located on the al-Sabika hill, next to the Darro river, the Alhambra is located in the eastern part of the city of Granada. Its location is strategic since it allows you to see the region.
The construction of this citadel took place in different historical stages. The first records of its existence date from the 9th century, although scholars believe that, before the arrival of the Muslims, there were already constructions on the hill.
When Granada became the capital of the Kingdom of Taifa in the 11th century, the Alhambra began to grow. In 1283 it became a royal residence and later palaces and other luxurious buildings were erected.
The history of the Alhambra is closely linked to the entry into Granada of Muhammad-Ben-Nazar (or Nasr, Banu-Nasr dynasty), called Muhammad Al-Ahmar the Red. Ben-Nasr was the founder of the Nasrid dynasty in Granada and it would be the new capital of Ben-Nasr, proclaiming king with the name of Muhammad I.
Upon his arrival in the great city in 1238, the people acclaimed him: "Welcome the conqueror by the grace of Allah", to which he replied: "Only Allah is victorious. This phrase would become the motto of the Nasrid shield and would also be written by the entire Alhambra, castle and royal palaces that built this and its descendants throughout the entire dynasty, until the beginning of its decline during the reign of Yusuf III (1408-1417).
During the reign of Muhammad I, Granada was strong intellectually and culturally, as many were the intellectuals: poets, thinkers, who passed. It was not like a dominant empire, since Muhhamad almost always had to pay tribute to the Castilian Crown in his battles, he even became a vassay of a king of Castile to obtain some stability and remain as Nasrid king until his death in 1273.
Muhammed I will go down in history as the initiator of the construction of the Alhambra, specifically the Alcazaba and its geographical location, since it is necessary to clarify that the previous dynasties fixed their palaces on the opposite hill, in the Albaicín.
