Editing Alhambra (section)

=== Entrance gates ===
[[File:Alhambra Gatehouse.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|The ''Puerta de la Justicia'' (Gate of Justice), the main southern gate to the Alhambra, built by [[Yusuf I]] in 1348|left]]
The main gate of the Alhambra is the large ''Puerta de la Justicia'' (Gate of Justice), known in Arabic as ''Bab al-Shari'a'' ({{Langx|ar|باب الشريعة|lit=Gate of [[Shari'a]] (law)}}), which served as the main entrance on the south side of the walled complex. It was built in 1348 during the reign of Yusuf I.{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|pp=152–155}}{{Sfn|López|1992}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=García Porras |first=Alberto |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zgsOEAAAQBAJ |title=The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada between East and West: (Thirteenth to Fifteenth Centuries) |publisher=Brill |year=2020 |isbn=978-90-04-44359-4 |editor-last=Fábregas |editor-first=Adela |chapter=Productive Activities and Material Culture |access-date=11 February 2022 |archive-date=23 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623053419/https://books.google.com/books?id=zgsOEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The gate consists of a large horseshoe arch leading to a steep ramp passing through a [[Bent entrance|bent passage]]. The passage turns 90 degrees to the left and then 90 degrees to the right, with an opening above where defenders could throw projectiles onto any attackers below. The image of a hand, whose five fingers symbolized the [[Five Pillars of Islam]], is carved above the archway on the exterior façade, while the image of a key, another symbol of faith, is carved above the archway on the inner façade. A Christian-era sculpture of the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin]] and [[Christ Child]] was inserted later into another niche just inside the gate.{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=47–49}} Near the outside of the gate is the ''Pilar de Carlos V'', a Renaissance-style fountain built in 1524 with some further alterations in 1624.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=35}}

At the end of the passage coming from the ''Puerta de la Justicia'' is the ''Plaza de los Aljibes'' ('Place of the Cisterns'), a broad open space which divides the Alcazaba from the Nasrid Palaces. The plaza is named after a large cistern dating to around 1494, commissioned by Iñigo López de Mondoza y Quiñones. The cistern was one of the first works carried out in the Alhambra after the 1492 conquest and it filled what was previously a gully between the Alcazaba and the palaces.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=63}} On the east side of the square is the ''Puerta del Vino'' (Wine Gate) which leads to the Palace of Charles V and to the former residential neighbourhoods (the ''medina'') of the Alhambra.{{Sfn|López|1992}}{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=61–63}} The gate's construction is attributed to the reign of Muhammad III, although the decoration dates from different periods. Both the inner and outer façades of the gate are embellished with ceramic decoration filing the spandrels of the arches and stucco decoration above. On the western side of the gate is the carving of a key symbol like the one on the ''Puerta de la Justicia''.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=61}}

[[File:Puerta de las Armas-crop.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|The ''Puerta de las Armas'' ('Gate of Arms'), the main northern gate of the Alhambra, from the 13th century]]
The other main gate of the Alhambra was the ''Puerta de las Armas'' ('Gate of Arms'), located on the north side of the Alcazaba, from which a walled ramp leads towards the ''Plaza de los Aljibes'' and the Nasrid Palaces. This was originally the main access point to the complex for the regular residents of the city, since it was accessible from the Albaicín side, but after the Christian conquest the ''Puerta de la Justicia'' was favoured by Ferdinand and Isabella.{{Sfn|López|1992}} The gate, one of the earliest structures built in the Alhambra in the 13th century, is one of the Alhambra structures that bear the most resemblance to the Almohad architectural tradition that preceded the Nasrids. The exterior façade of the gate is decorated with a polylobed moulding with glazed tiles inside a rectangular ''[[alfiz]]'' frame. Inside the gate's passage is a dome that is painted to simulate the appearance of red brick, a decorative feature characteristic of the Nasrid period.{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=49–51}}

Two other exterior gates existed, both located further east. On the north side is the ''Puerta del Arrabal'' ('Arrabal Gate'), which opens onto the ''Cuesta de los Chinos'' ('Slope of the Pebbles'), the ravine between the Alhambra and the Generalife. It was probably created under Muhammad II and served the first palaces of the Alhambra which were built in this area during his reign. It underwent numerous modifications in the later Christian era of the Alhambra.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=53}}{{Sfn|López|1992}} On the south side is the ''Puerta de los Siete Suelos'' ('Gate of Seven Floors'), which was almost entirely destroyed by the explosions set off by the departing French troops in 1812. The present gate was reconstructed in the 1970s with help of remaining fragments and of multiple old [[engraving]]s that illustrate the former gate. The original gate was probably built in the mid-14th century and its original Arabic name was ''Bab al-Gudur''. It would have been the main entrance serving the ''medina'', the area occupied by industries and the houses of workers inside the Alhambra. It was also through here that the Catholic Monarchs first entered the Alhambra on January 2, 1492.{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=45–46}}{{Sfn|López|1992}}