La restauración de un baluarte de artillería de los Reyes Católicos construido entre 1492-1495 sobre un puente nazarí en la Puerta del Arrabal de la Alhambra (Granada, España)

Abstract

[EN] The bastion of the Puerta del Arrabal is one of the six that the Catholic Monarchs ordered to be built, after their taking possession of the Alhambra in 1492, to protect the gates and other strategic places of its walled enclosure. Due to their design, they are considered to be part of the ‘transitional’ military architecture, between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age, when the development of the fortification conceived for the use of firearms began. It is located on the stream that collects the surplus from the irrigation of the Acequia Real de la Alhambra and runs parallel to the Cuesta del Rey Chico, an artificial moat that separates the enclosure of the palatine city from the almunia of the Generalife. This conditions its design, as it has to ride over the stream to be able to dominate the path in three directions and it has a three-storey tower to be able to beat the lower orchard of the Generalife from the last one.Its west façade faces the enclosure of the northern forest of the Alhambra, in a place that is difficult to access because the stream flows through a deep ravine. The fact that it was covered by ivy and thick trees has prevented over time from verifying that this entire sector was built on a large Nasrid bridge, with a previous hydraulic complex, totally unknown to historiography and preserved in good condition, which served to accelerate and economize the work in the years 1492-1495 and conditioned its design.The conservation works have been carried out in 2022-2024, applying the criteria of scientific restoration, with moderate interventions, which have reversed several negative actions carried out during the twentieth century, maintaining all the relevant historical remains, as well as its character as an old building.