Some say that the name Albaicin means "quarter of the falconers", but most historians prefer "quarter of the people of Baeza". When the Moors were driven by the Christians out of the city of Baeza, near Jaen, in the 13th century, they fled to Granada and re-settled on the northern part of the hill, creating a suburb which took on the name of their former home. Most of what we now call Albaicin was in fact the Alcazaba, the Moorish citadel, stretching from the Colegiata del Salvador to the Plaza San Miguel Bajo. Only the western wall of this fortress still exists (it's best seen from the Mirador San Cristobal); the castle keep stood on what is now the Plaza San Nicolás. It was only after the fall of Cordoba, in 1236, that the centre of Moorish power was transferred to Granada - bringing a massive influx of nobles, architects and money which led to the construction of a fabulous new castle on the hill across the river valley: the Alhambra, Calat-Al-Hama or "The Red Castle", so called for its reddish stone.
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