CASTLES PROVINCIA DE GRANADA

Alhambra de Granada stands as an iconic palace-fortress crowning a hill above Granada, constructed primarily between 1238 and 1358 during the Nasrid dynasty. The name, meaning "the red" in Arabic, derives from its distinctive reddish rammed earth outer walls. The 26-acre complex encompasses 1,730 meters of defensive walls studded with thirty towers, enclosing ornate palatial spaces including the celebrated Patio de los Arrayanes with its reflecting pool and the Patio de los Leones featuring an alabaster fountain. The attached Generalife summer palace displays terraced gardens and the Patio de la Acequia. UNESCO-designated since 1984, the Alhambra was surrendered to Catholic Monarchs in 1492 and represents the pinnacle of Islamic palace architecture in medieval Spain.

Castillo de Dólar is a small 12th-century fortification crowning a hill within Dólar municipality in the Marquesado del Zenete region at the foot of Sierra Nevada. This strategically important castle controlled passage between Granada and Almería provinces within the Kingdom of Granada. The fortress occupies a prominent position in the town's urban nucleus, requiring an uphill walk to reach it, though a large water reservoir constructed in recent decades has obscured distant views and altered underlying structures. By the 16th century, documented records already described the castle as demolished and in ruins, having lost defensive purpose after the Reconquista ended the Nasrid kingdom's need for frontier fortifications.

Castillo de Montejícar sits prominently on the Cerro del Castillo, a limestone ridge overlooking the town and rising above 1,250 meters in Granada province. Archaeological evidence reveals continuous human occupation from the Bronze Age through the Modern period, with settlement beginning around 1200 BC and fortification commencing in the 9th century. The fortress features multiple enclosures with masonry towers and underwent significant reforms during the Nasrid period (13th-15th centuries) before its conquest by the Catholic Monarchs in 1486. The complex includes an interior cistern (aljibe) and represents layered centuries of defensive architecture and cultural transition. Though population declined following the expulsion of the Moriscos, the castle remains a testament to the region's strategic historical importance.

Castillo de la Peza comprises ruins of a fortress built between the 9th and 10th centuries, located on Cerro de San Antón near the town of La Peza in Granada province. The castle held strategic importance during the Nasrid period as a critical lookout point controlling the road linking Guadix to Granada and representing continuity from Roman-era communication routes. The site features two fortified enclosures with surviving masonry walls demarcating the outer perimeter, an earth wall to the southeast, and three towers within the inner enclosure. Historical documentation includes a 1494 account by German traveler Hieronymus Münzer, who described it as 'the Castle of Lapesa, on a high mountain.' The castle represents an important medieval example of Nasrid defensive and surveillance architecture in Granada's inland territories.

Castillo de Benzalema is a small medieval fortification located on a steep hill in Baza, Granada, overlooking the Negratín reservoir and the confluence of the Castril and Guardal rivers. This Andalusian fortress, measuring barely two hundred square metres, currently survives as sparse ruins showing remains of a walled masonry enclosure and evidence of four towers. Strategically positioned to monitor passage toward Baza from the Kingdom of Jaén, the castle played important roles during both internal Granada conflicts in the 15th century and the Granada War between Castile and the Nazarí sultanate. First documented in 1434 when it fell to Castilian forces, the fortress remained under Nazarí control until the eastern kingdom fell in 1488–1489.