Puertas de las Murallas

It's well worth climbing up the Cuesta de la Alhacaba slope into the Albayzín district, to get an idea of how the city looked before the Nasrids created the Alhambra complex on the opposite hill. The first Arab invaders with their Berber mercenaries from North Africa built their fortress on the Albayzín hill in the early 8th century. Later, in the 11th century, the Arab Zirid tribe erected these fortified gates and extended the Murallas del Albayzín (Moorish Defensive Walls) to completely surround the Albayzín. Four of the gates with their characteristic horseshoe arches remain.