Qaysariyya of Granada

Granada, Spain

The Qaysariyya of Granada was the Nasrid royal market that specialised in silk and other luxury items, and was part of an important commercial quarter adjacent to the city's congregational mosque. An independent structure with a relatively regular grid plan, the Qaysariyya's numerous shops were arranged along narrow interior "streets." At night the ten portals that provided access to the interior could be locked, protecting the valuable merchandise within.

Maintained by the Castilian monarchs after their conquest of Granada in 1492, the Qayseriyya was destroyed by fire in 1843. As it exists today its appearance is the product of a restoration accomplished soon after the fire. The further regularisation of the plan and the heavy emphasis on ornament, which was probably not characteristic of its Nasrid appearance, reflect the nineteenth-century restorers' sensibility.

Source:

Dickie, James. 1993. "Granada: A Case Study of Arab Urbanism in Muslim Spain." In The Legacy of Muslim Spain, edited by S. K. Jayyusi. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 95-98.

Orihuela Uzal, Antonio. 1995. "Granada, Capital del Reino Nazarí."In La Arquitectura del Islam Occidental. p. 203-204.