Salobrena Castle

SALOBREÑA CASTLE AUDIO GUIDE TEXT

TRACK 1.- 

Salobreña Castle Audio Tour. Welcome.

Welcome to Salobreña Castle. With your audio guide, you can explore the history of this monument, which was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 1985 and is open to the public to visit all year round.

After a steep climb through the narrow, winding streets, all that is left to do is take on the 20-plus steps that line the Andrés Segovia street and you will find yourself before the tower that leads to the castle.

From its towers and parapets, you will be able to take in some truly breathtaking scenery: the Salobreña streetscape below, the green meadows, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Sierra Nevada peaks in the distance.

The suggested itinerary will take you around many parts of the enclosure, stopping at points for you to read the information provided on the several strategically placed panels while listening to the tracks in this audio guide.

We hope you enjoy the experience. Let’s begin.

Introduction to the Monument.

Perched on the top of a rocky promontory over 100 metres above sea level, its privileged location since ancient times made it a prime spot for human occupation dating all the way back to the 3rd millennium BC.

The first written references to the monument as a fortification appeared in the 10th century. It was built for defensive reasons, to control the medina, to stage, and to project power, both onto the medina and the sea. During the Nasrid Dynasty (1232-1492), it was occasionally used as a royal prison and housed a small palatial area.

After being handed over to the Catholic Monarchs in 1489, the fortress maintained its military importance until the 18th century, when it was restructured and readjusted to new military needs. It served as a territorial control point, finally witnessing peace at the end of the 16th century when the Moorish rebellion was stifled.

In 1490, the first renovations were planned, aimed at strengthening its weakest points in response to the sense of insecurity that prevailed towards the end of the Granada War, as well as the fear of an attack from North Africa.

By the 18th century, the castle was in a state of considerable ruin. It was abandoned in 1849 due to its uselessness from a military standpoint.

From the end of the 19th century until the mid-20th century, the castle was privately owned, but was handed over by the Spanish tax authorities to the Salobreña Town Hall in 1964, which renovated and refurbished the enclosure so that it could be visited and used as a theatre space, resulting in a total of seven restoration projects.

The Main Gate Tower. Ticket Office/Information.

Located in the far north-east of the enclosure, this simple L-shaped bent entrance is incorporated into a quadrangular tower. This type of access tower, used since the Almohad period, became widespread during the Nasrid Dynasty as its unique layout allows for greater defence and eases the access slope.

The tower directly connected the fortress to the medina in the Nasrid period, and during that time, it was possibly located near to the Cube Tower, in the section of wall connecting them. Renovations carried out under the Catholic Monarchs focused on improving defence at this part of the fortress to deploy the artillery and led to its construction in the current location at the end of the 15th century.

The Postern Gate.

It is located in the section of wall that closes off the entrance passageway to the fortress on the northern side. It was used as a way of exiting the Alcazaba (citadel) without having to go through the medina or the city.

It is unclear as to when it lost its function, but it is not mentioned in a map dating back to 1722.

After restoration works in 1974, the wall was reinforced on the outside, covering up the gate, with a new wall also going up on the inside to expand the wall walk connecting the access tower terrace to the Coracha enclosure, which gives us a glimpse of the remains of the original apertures.

TRACK 2.- 

The Artillery Platform and Cube Tower.

This structure begins at the south-west corner of the gate tower and reaches the southern enclosure. The artillery platform consists of two sections of varying lengths controlled from the Cube Tower:

The first section is longer and is located between the main gate of the fortress and the semicircular tower found in the centre of the eastern front of the fortress. It was raised and topped with a row of brick merlons during the restoration work conducted in the last century. Given its proximity to the main entrance gate, it houses three of the four loopholes located on this front.

The second section is much shorter, and is located between the Cube Tower and the southern enclosure. It has a single loophole, which was hidden as it had been filled in. Once the filling was removed, a pavement of medium-sized stones was revealed, which had been joined using a lime-rich mortar and arranged unevenly.

The Cube Tower.

It forms part of the artillery platform that we have just described, which is why the masonry is so similar. It is semicircular and also contains artillery loopholes. Its entrance gate is open on the west side and was completely rebuilt during last century’s restoration works. Inside the tower, there is just one room covered with a brick sail dome and a central opening for ventilation.

During the archaeological dig, a large stone mortar was unearthed, which was probably once used for preparing gunpowder given that the tower was designed to house three cannons.

A ramp attached to the tower on the outside was identified, enclosed by a masonry retaining wall, which would have been built to prevent the large amounts of rubble from the ruins of the fortress itself from blocking access to the tower. Next, we can see the collapse of a piece of wall, assumed to be from the nearby New Tower.

TRACK 3.- 

The New Tower.

The current tower is a Christian construction that replaced the previous one from the al-Andalus period of which no remains were found, due to the fact that the new tower completely covered the original one. We know that it was used as a keep in 1490 and that this stopped at some point when the new tower was built, as the location was better for controlling the fortress.

The building of the New Tower, due to its larger size, disrupted the access system, and so from then onwards, the portillo or wicket gate mentioned was only connected to the ramp leading up to the upper enclosure.

Although the Moorish tower was smaller in size than the Christian tower, it was by no means less important. Its prominence and centrality for the people of al-Andalus meant that it had a similar role to that of the Qubba Tower, which is located on the other side of the enclosure facing the sea. Both cases are examples of architectural solutions designed to exhibit the power of the Nasrid Sultan. The east tower stood tall over those living on the hillside, while the west tower fulfilled the mission for anyone approaching Salobreña by sea.

Given its location beside the portillo, which is mentioned in a document dated the 6th of April, 1494, this tower contained a reception room on the upper floor, as it was typical for palaces to have spaces next to the entrance gate for receiving visitors rather than having them enter the palace quarters. If this hypothesis is true, then the Moorish tower must have had a staircase beside the portillo for accessing the upper floor, so those in rule at the time could leave the palace to attend to their formal commitments.

TRACK 4.- 

The Southern Enclosure.

As the name suggests, this is located in the southernmost part of the fortress. Its proximity to the main gate of the citadel implies that it was used for stables and troops. In both the Islamic and Christian periods, this space was always set apart from the rest.

Although larger during the al-Andalus period, it has not undergone a great deal of changes to this day.

Its surroundings were as follows: to the north-west, there was a Moorish wall, which was destroyed when the second Christian artillery platform was built; to the south-east, the Moorish rammed earth wall remains under the raised Christian masonry; to the south-west, the present-day cistern bastion erased any trace of the original design, where the so-called Torrejón del Aljibe tower was more than likely located; and lastly, to the north-east, there is a rectangular space where a bent-entrance gate was once found.

The Torrejón del Aljibe tower was, at one time, found at the southernmost part of this wall, which must have been destroyed during the construction of the Christian bastion.

During the last decades of the 20th century, the castle was used for hosting different kinds of cultural events. It was even home to a lion in the 80s named Jimmy who became very popular in the area.

At the foot of the New Tower, we can see a series of structures that closed off the enclosure on that side, and which date back to Moorish times. The walls form a rectangular space, which worked as a bent-entrance gate and gave access to this southernmost enclosure. It is proof of the high level of access control that existed in the confines of the citadels. This gate gave access to two walkway ramps that were almost symmetrical; one led up to the upper enclosure where the palace area was located, and the other skirted the New Tower northwards as a way of accessing the Water Tower enclosure. This improved access to the upper and northern enclosures, increasing the defence of both by designing extremely narrow walkways that forced assailants into a vulnerable position, as those defending the fortress could easily attack them from the upper enclosure.

Considering the size of the walls, it can be assumed that this rectangular space lacked an upper floor, and if it had a roof, it would have weighed very little. It possibly was used as a barrier system to control the passage of people.

As we go up the small ramp to the bastion, we can see on the right-hand side the remains of the gunpowder magazine, referred to as: “Almázen de Pólvora”. This small space is slightly rectangular and is enclosed by a wall to the south, which was whitewashed on the inner side, and to the east by a small brick partition where the door must have been, which disappeared during restoration works in 1981. The space was paved with stones set into a rammed earth floor. An iron ball was recovered in the area, which probably came from an artillery cannon.

The Cistern.

According to written sources, the cistern that exists today in the southernmost part of this enclosure under the bastion designed by Crame was planned in February 1490. It is rectangular and is covered by a barrel vault. It has a thick layer of pink plaster and terracotta tiles on the floor. It has two entrances, one circular and the other square, the latter being blocked off and sealed by a slate slab paving, which more than likely dates back to the renovation of the bastion designed by Joseph de Crame. The construction of this new cistern was one of the first projects carried out after the takeover, which shows how certain needs arose in the Christian fortress that had not existed in the Moorish citadel.

In 1960, a water tank was built beside this cistern to supply the city.

TRACK 5.- 

The Flanking Tower.

After walking up the wooden ramp and along the rampart walkway, we reach the gate tower that leads us to what was once the Nasrid palace and citadel, the original fortress. At the end of the walkway, to the left of a small archway, we go down a set of steps to reach the Flanking Tower. This crenellated tower was built in the 16th century and displays irregular masonry. On our right-hand side as we enter, there are two open loopholes on the northern flank placed at a different level to protect the second artillery platform, while the public toilets may been found to the left.

TRACK 6.- 

The Gate Tower.

This has gone by several different names. We find ourselves before the typical Gate Tower with a simple bent entrance. Once we pass under the south face of the entrance arch, we take the ramp that turns towards the west, before entering inside the enclosure. In front of the entrance arch facing northwards, there is a blind arch containing a niche that once housed the image of Saint Onuphrius. Francisco Ramírez de Madrid, the first Christian Governor of the fortress was a devout worshipper of this Saint, ordering the installation of the image as a symbol of the Christian occupation. The image remained in place until well into the 18th century, which is why this gate tower was known as Saint Onuphrius Gate.

The importance of the upper enclosure is clear given its size and the architectural calibre of its gate. It has a bent entrance inside a square tower that originally had mud walls. It is currently made from brick and stonework. The gate has a brick arch, framed by an alfiz. The inside of the right-angled passage is covered by two barrel vaults intersecting at right angles to form a groin vault. On the right-hand side wall, there are two recesses crowned with semicircular brick arches, each providing a seat for the guards to rest. In front of the gate there is another recess containing a niche that housed the image of Saint Onuphrius, when the fortress passed over into Christian hands. The exit to the upper enclosure is via another brick arch that opens to the north face of the tower. The size of the floor and the historical records point to the likelihood of there once being an upper floor. There was probably a staircase on the east side.

During the restoration works, this gate tower was also intensely reconstructed, topped with reinforced ashlar in the corners with brick, imitating the previous work.

TRACK 7.- 

The Upper Enclosure Wall.

Because it had to adapt to the natural lay of the land, this defensive structure took on an irregular shape in the form of a triangle, wider to the north and with one corner to the south, where the gate tower is found. Practically nothing remains of the medieval mud wall and very few visible traces are left of the masonry reconstructions carried out in the 16th century. This is because many sections were rebuilt from the foundations up during the restorations conducted in the second half of the 20th century. Nevertheless, the new structures are a reproduction of the original layout.

The Mosque-Church.

It would not be unreasonable to suggest that a Moorish citadel housing a bath like the one that was unearthed here would also have a small mosque inside facing the south-east. Based on this assumption, it is thought that the Muslim prayer hall was initially reused as a Christian chapel without any major renovations being carried out.

If, in addition to the historical records, we bear in mind the discovery of a strange, very well oriented building at the foot of the New Tower, we can safely conclude that this was indeed the mosque of the citadel, transformed into a church after the conquest and was reroofed after the earthquake of 1494.

TRACK 8.- 

The Nasrid Bath.

The fact that the bath was the best preserved room of the palace is because it was located on low land, in the northern third of the upper enclosure. It was preserved due to the rapid demolition of the building after the conquest, although its foundations were sealed and some of its walls reused. It had a square ground plan, with three of its sides being fairly even.

As it was for the use and enjoyment of the Nasrid royal family, it had a private entrance from the palace, located in the north-west corner. A very similar example of this can be found at the Comares Palace in the Alhambra, where a staircase was also used to go down to the bath as a way of bridging the difference in height between both buildings. In the Salobreña bath, only the space where the staircase once was and the first step are preserved, as the rest was knocked when the entire front was transformed into the north-west living quarters that was built above the bath.

The rest of the floor containing the bath, while damaged, retains a good deal of elements to study it in detail. The space was arranged following the standard layout traditionally used for Moorish baths. It was developed from north to south with three functional areas. The first is the dry area, located at the entrance to the bath and right beside the stairs; the second is the wet area, with the three typical cold, warm and hot rooms; and lastly there is the service area, containing the furnace, the boiler and the woodshed.

The water drainage system for the bath consists of a sewage system and pipes that collect wastewater from the different rooms. They all lead to a larger drain attached to the outside of the bath’s north wall. It flows from west to east, sloping towards the east.

The few ceramic remains recovered from the bath area date back to the Nasrid period. The majority consist of very small ceramic fragments for tableware, conveyance and storage. Among the ceramic tableware, some fragments of high quality glazed jars were found.

It should be noted that this recreational area was perfectly adapted to both the space and the steep terrain on which it was built. The materials used include stone, brick and rammed earth for the foundations, walls and water infrastructure. The floors of the most important rooms were paved with colourful glazed tiles.

Lime mortar was used for both brick and stone walls, while a different, pinkish mortar was used for the floor, which was perhaps more suitable for bonding the tiles.

TRACK 9.- 

The Palace.

Built on top of rock on the highest point of the platform, the residential building has suffered the most damage, largely due to the plundering of its walls and the reusing of materials when a new building was being built on top or nearby. Damage was also caused during the restoration works of the mid-20th century, when the entire area was dug out, with boreholes even used to destroy the rocky base and extract the necessary materials for rebuilding walls and towers. This all explains why this building is the most demolished, with practically no trace being left.

Nevertheless, it was not difficult to identify it given the relatively good condition of other quarters that were typically attached to the palace, thus confirming its existence, such as: the bath and the qubba inside the Old Tower, which presided over the west side of this enclosure.

Part of the palace’s east corridor has been identified, specifically the part connecting to the bath. While only the foundations remain, a section of brick wall can be seen, which belonged to the palace’s main façade. This was a retaining wall, directly built on the rock and lacking an inner side. This is because it was used to create a platform upon which the palace walls could be raised. Two brick walls are attached to the foundation.

After the Christian reconquest, the only part of this reformed Nasrid palace that appears to remain are Christian living quarters located in the northern end, above the bath.

TRACK 10.- 

The Qubba or Old Tower.

The current tower is square-shaped and 16 metres high. During the Nasrid dynasty, the space was likely undivided with a qubba inside, associated with the main hall of the palace, as seen in other Nasrid residences, such as the Royal Quarters of Santo Domingo, the Generalife and Comares Palace, which are without a doubt the best examples of this architectural solution.

They all boast a raised tower, which was used as a way of exalting the power of the Sultan before the city below. In Salobreña, it stood instead before the sea due to the importance of its port. The theory that this tower was a qubba with the functions we have described is supported by the presence of a decorative strip on the bottom third of the main façade, consisting of intertwined blind arches in brick.

It seems obvious that the patio was never inside the tower, but rather in its surroundings, and that the tower contained a chamber during the Nasrid period.

It was rebuilt during the 1950s.

TRACK 11.- 

The Keep/Powder Tower.

A document dating back to 1490 mentions two keeps: the first one is a “large tower used at present as the keep”, which is the New Tower; and the second is “the keep, that is yet to be built”. This new keep is perhaps the only one mentioned in records from the 16th century and found on a historical map where it was well drawn and labelled. This map, dated 1722, was created by Juan Subreville and it shows how the keep formed part of the wall looking out to sea, in the upper enclosure.

It is a round corner tower as can be still seen to this day. The map shows it to be of a considerable height, much taller than what we observe today. As the map is considered to be reliable, it is thought that the tower once had a second floor, that was used for surveillance. The remains left belong to a vaulted lower floor and suggest that access to the second floor was only possible via the parapet.

TRACK 12.- 

The Cisterns.

Since the Nasrid period, the Castle had two supply systems; the first consisting of collecting rain water that had fallen on the towers and rooms of the castle. A piping system was used to store the water in the cistern using drains and ports. In drier years they were filled manually from the well.

The second system consisted of extracting water from a well in the northern part of the fortress or from an underground canal derived from the irrigation channel.

These dark, underground tanks kept the water in good condition. This was achieved by waterproofing the walls and ground using a very fine and compact lime plaster mixed with iron oxide, giving them their signature red ochre tone.

The round cistern is located in the north-east corner of the internal enclosure. Built underground, it consists of an excavated well, lined with brick and a layer of lime and red ochre, ensuring it is waterproof, hygienic and disinfected. Its largest diameter of 3.95 m and a current depth of 3.5 m. It is currently restored as an open-top tank, but it once had a vaulted roof, and may therefore have also been used as a granary.

The bath would have been primarily supplied by the rectangular cistern, located on the eastern flank at a lower level. It collected the rainwater that had fallen on the palace and the bath itself, ruling out the possibility of the Water Tower’s waterwheel taking on the difficult task of supply.

It was originally covered with a barrel vault, large fragments of which have been found inside, mixed with a very recent earth deposit. Marks left by the vertical timbers of the mud walls have also been observed. These timbers were used as formwork, were removed, filling in the gaps they had left with bricks and tile fragments. Evidence of horizontal timbers can be found on the exterior of the east side, beside the New Tower.

Some sections remain of the canal that collected the water discharged inside by means of smaller channels created using tile. One of them is fully intact while another only partially remains. With regard to water collection, two different and overlapping phases of channelling have been observed.

The cisterns were filled with rainwater and using the water extracted from a well located at the Water Tower. Another circular structure opened out onto the patio, which could have been used as a silo, but it is also known that it was used as a dungeon.

TRACK 13.- 

THE ALCAZABA OF SALOBREÑA: ROYAL PRISON.

Its walls have experienced interesting episodes about the history of Granada’s Nasrid dynasty. It was a “royal prison” for dethroned emirs and sultans and members of royalty who had been imprisoned on suspicion of conspiracy or betrayal. One famous prisoner was Yusuf III, who was imprisoned between 1392 and 1408.

Other members of the royal family were imprisoned or underwent a “golden exile”, always as a result of being caught up in feuds and plots to gain power. Here are just a few cases: Muhammad “El Zurdo” (the left-handed), cousin of Yusuf III, and upon the death of the latter he was succeeded by his son, Muhammad the Little King, under the guardianship of Governor Alamîn, as he was still a minor. But not long after taking power, a conspiracy in 1419 knocked him off the throne in favour of his uncle, Muhammad the Left-Handed. Eight years later, Muhammad the Little King seized the throne from his uncle, but history repeated itself in 1429, and Muhammad the Left-Handed robbed him once again of his throne and sent him as a prisoner to Salobreña, where he killed him two years later.

Chronicler Hernando de Baeza tells us about how Muley Hacen, father of Boabdil, snatched the throne from his own father, Abû Nasr Sa´d, and imprisoned him in Salobreña, where he died. Muley Hacen would go on to suffer the same fate as his father, being imprisoned and later dying there. According to legend, he asked to be buried under the highest peak of the Sierra Nevada, close to the sky and far from all civilisation; that peak is called the Mulhacén and was named after him.

THE LEGEND OF THE CHESS GAME.

Among the princes or monarchs who were imprisoned at the Alcazaba of Salobreña, the first to appear in the chronicles was the future Yusuf III, who as firstborn, was appointed by his father as future king of Granada, but was usurped from the throne by his brother Muhammad VII, who sent him to the citadel where he was imprisoned until 1408. On his deathbed, Muhammad VII ordered his execution. According to the “Legend of the Chess Game”, while Prince Yusuf was playing a game of chess with the Governor, the emissary of Muhammad VII arrived at the citadel to inform him of the execution order. Yusuf knew that there was an uprising in Granada against his brother, and so in an attempt to gain time, he asked the emissary for one last wish to take care of some matters. The emissary refused to allow him to leave the room, and in response to this, he asked him to at least let him finish his game of chess, to which the emissary agreed. Yusuf and the Governor prolonged the game for some time, and before declaring checkmate, two emissaries burst into the citadel to announce the death of Muhammed, with the people of Granada proclaiming Yusuf as the new Sultan. Freed and crowned in 1408 at the age of 32, he was the author of an important poetic composition, primarily written while in captivity. His imprisonment caused him considerable physical side-effects that ultimately led to his premature death in 1417.

LEGEND OF THE THREE PRINCESSES.

At the base of the so-called “Camino del Moro”, an annex to the walled enclosure of the medieval city of Salobreña, beside the citadel, we find the setting chosen by Washington Irving for part of the legend of “The Three Beautiful Princesses”, which culminated in the Palaces of the Alhambra. This romantic legend is both beautiful and sad, and was immortalised by the renowned author in his famous “Tales of the Alhambra”, with a wonderful and captivating literary description that is well worth reading.

Ruling Granada at the time was Muhammad el Zurdo (the Left-Handed), an infamous despotic monarch who was a prisoner of the Salobreña citadel. Legend has it that this monarch married a young captive Christian woman, who bore triplets, three girls called Zayda, Zoraida and Zorahaida. Astrologers warned her to take care of them when “the age of danger”, in other words, puberty, came around. Upon the death of the mother, the Emir ordered for them to be educated at the palace quarters of the Salobreña Alcazaba, protected from all danger and under the tutelage of their trusted maid, Kadiga.

Some time later, one day the restless Zaida was sitting at one of the windows of the pavilion when she spotted a galley arriving that carried prisoners on board. She called to her sisters and they watched three young Christian prisoners who had been involved in some kind of skirmish. Each sister fell in love with each of the young men. They would spend hours peeking through the trellises to watch them and listen to them sing their love songs as they worked. Kadiga, their faithful maid, warned their father that his daughters were now ready for marriage, and so he ordered them to be transferred to the Alhambra.

But Kadiga was like a mother to them, and understood what was happening. She started collaborating with them, disobeying the Sultan’s orders to help them flee with their young lovers. She managed to bribe the jailer and prepared the escape of the prisoners and the young princesses in their quest for freedom. At the last minute, the shy and melancholy Zorahaida, the youngest of the three, decided to stay. The party set off to Córdoba without her, pursued by the Sultan’s guard, who did not succeed in catching them. A sad Zorahaida spent hours looking out towards Córdoba. A short time later she died, and in keeping with tradition, she was buried in one of the gardens of the Alhambra. On her grave, a rose brush grew, which only ever blossomed a single rose. Her death, in the prime of her life, gave rise to many legends, but this one, titled “The Rose of the Alhambra” is the one that is most associated with the sweet princess, who did not have the courage to follow the destiny the astrologers had predicted for her.

Legend has it that her father used to walk by the rose bush, glancing sorrowfully at the flower.

TRACK 14.- 

North Enclosure.

This enclosure boasts three particularly important architectural elements. These are the gate known as “Socorro del mar”, the Water Tower and the “Bastion of La Coracha”. Both the gate and the first tower appear to be structures that once formed part of the Nasrid citadel, while the Coracha tower was built under Christian rule, more than likely on top of a pre-existing tower.

The Socorro del mar gate.

As the name suggests in Spanish, this gate played a very important role in the Nasrid citadel in terms of defence and access to the port at its base. Having a direct way of communicating with such a strategic place as the port gave the fortress complete independence, as inhabitants could flee by sea if they were completely surrounded on land and could no longer hold out. This access also meant that aid could be given by sea to those besieged in need of reinforcements. It was located at the section of wall going up from the Coracha Tower to the Keep and it dates back to medieval times.

The Water Tower.

The name of this tower is very closely related to the waterwheel it contained for centuries, which was there to supply water to the fortress. The northern half of the old tower collapsed at some point, although it is unclear as to when exactly this occurred. Faced with the threat of a total collapse, in 1974 a decision was made to rebuild the northern half so as to protect the remains that were left, as well as giving the fortress a new look in line with the trends at the time. The new building’s exterior displays a blend of ashlar with brick lintels and quoins.

The archaeological remains of the waterwheel well were left for display inside the new tower, in a chamber organised into several floors separated by a concrete beam framework and 80 cm hollow bricks to keep the new building in place.

Tower or Bastion of La Coracha.

It is located in the north-west end of the fortress. The building is in the form of a slight trapezoid and has a sharp slope. It is topped with a high parapet with loopholes for firing on its three exterior façades. It is made from a mixture of brick and stonework and lies directly on the rock. It was used to defend those who came to assist the fortress by sea.

We hope you have enjoyed the tour and the information provided.

Salobreña wishes you a wonderful stay with us.

Thanks for visiting!