THE NASRID MARISTÁN OF GRANADA.

RESTORATION OF A MONUMENT AT A

DIFFICULT CROSSROADS

EL MARISTÁN NAZARÍ DE GRANADA. RECUPERACIÓN DE UN

MONUMENTO EN UNA DIFÍCIL ENCRUCIJADA

PEDRO SALMERÓN ESCOBAR

DIEGO GARZÓN OSUNA

FRANCISCO CAMPOS FERNÁNDEZ

ROSA PÉREZ DE LA TORRE

PHD IN ARCHITECTURE. CURATOR OF THE

CATHEDRALS OF GRANADA AND JAÉN

PHD IN ARCHITECTURE. SPECIALISES IN THE

CONSERVATION OF IMMOVABLE

HISTORICAL HERITAGE

TECHNICAL ARCHITECT. SPECIALISES IN THE

CONSERVATION OF IMMOVABLE HISTORICAL HERITAGE

DEGREE IN ART HISTORY. SPECIALISES IN HISTORICAL–

DOCUMENTARY STUDIES APPLIED TO INTERVENTIONS

IN IMMOVABLE HISTORICAL HERITAGE

estudiopedrosalmeron2@gmail.com

diegogarzon@arquired.es

pcampos@coaatgr.es

rosastrea@gmail.com

AbstrAct: this article considers the consolidation and restoration project of the southern portico of the

Maristán. Outstanding historical keys that go beyond the mediaeval period, are provided, and events of

the long process that takes place since its incorporation into the public heritage in 1984 until today, are

explained. As the recovery of this building is made from remains in very poor conditions, the methodolo-

gy followed in the project is detailed, and technical solutions that act as a support for a difficult path that

interacts with the remains of the original building and makes it understandable as a spatial and functional

structure, are described.

Keywords: maristán, mint, restoration, consolidation, recovery

resumen: este artículo trata fundamentalmente del proyecto de consolidación y restauración del pórtico

sur del Maristán. Se aportan las claves históricas más relevantes que no se detienen en la etapa medieval, y

se explican las vicisitudes del largo proceso que transcurre desde su incorporación al patrimonio público en

1984 hasta hoy. Como la recuperación de este edificio se hace a partir de unos restos en condiciones muy

deficientes de conservación, se detalla la metodología seguida en el proyecto y se describen las soluciones

técnicas que actúan como soporte de un difícil camino que interactúa con los restos del edificio original y

lo hace comprensible como estructura espacial y funcional.

PAlAbrAs clAves: maristán, casa de la moneda, restauración, consolidación, recuperación

cómo citAr / how to cite: SALMERON ESCOBAR, P., CAMPOS FERNÁNDEZ, F., GARZÓN OSUNA, D.,

PÉREZ DE LA TORRE, R., El Maristán nazarí de Granada. Recuperación de un monumento en una difícil

encrucijada, Cuaderno de la Alhambra. 2020, 49, págs. 251-271. ISN 0590-1987

CUADERNOS DE LA ALHAMBRA I núm. 49 I 2020 I págs. 251-271

Recibido: 17 septiembre 2020 | Revisado: 2 octubre 2020 | Aceptado: 22 octubre 2020 | Publicado: 24 diciembre 2020

ISSN: 0590 - 1987 I eISSN: 2695-379X I Depósito legal: GR 70-1965

1. Introduction

The Maristán de Granada is located in the heart of

the lower Albaicín, in front of the Monasterio de la

Concepción, very close to Carrera del Darro. Foun-

ded by Muhammad V in 1367, it is an exceptional

testimony to the splendour of 14th century Granada,

and the Maristán is the only hospital in Al-Andalus

about which there is any significant information.

The remains of the Maristán have presented a diffi-

cult challenge in terms of their restoration because

they are structures that have survived after being

encased by and combined with other, later cons-

tructions that were interwoven with the medieval

buildings, and have been practically demolished in

their entirety. When destruction of the Maristán was

halted in 1984 it meant the beginning of interesting

work to remove the construction elements that hid

the original structure in the part of the building that

remains standing at the far south of the plot.

At the same time, highlights of the the initial ar-

chaeological campaign carried out in 1984–1986

IL. 1. Juan Antonio García Granados. South pavilion, with part of its roof collapsed, once the archaeological excavation of the site and the work

to remove debris from the pool had begun (1985).

included the appearance of low standing remains

from other bays in the building and a first section of

the patio pool. There is still a section of unexplored

soil in the remaining land with intense filling that

may well lead to extremely interesting information

about this monument. Since then, an alliance has

been forged between remains that are in danger of

disappearing and a fertile subsoil that sustains our

knowledge of such a complex past.

Some interesting data regarding the dimensions

are provided below (measurements were taken on

the middle axis of each space):

- The Maristán plot: 37,30 x 25,15 m.

- Courtyard: 26,16 x 15,00 m.

- Pool. Surface of water: 16,20 x 4,50 m.

Depth: 1,10 m.

- Pool including thickness of wall

(1,25m): 18,70 x 7,00 m.

1. TORRES BALBÁS, L. El Maristán de Granada. In: Crónica de la

España musulmana XV, vol. IX, 1944, p. 497.

2. DESSALINES D' ORBIGNY, A. Viaje pintoresco á las dos Amé-

ricas, Asia y África. Imprenta y librería de Juan Oliveres, Vol. 3,

1842, p. 5.

3. CLAYE, J. [imp.], GIDE [ed.], GAILHABAUD, J. [ed. lit.]. L'ar-

chitecture du Vme. au XVIIme. siècle et les arts qui en dépendent:

la sculpture, la peinture murale, la peinture sur verre, la mosaïque,

la ferronerie, etc. / publiés d'après les travaux inédits des principaux

architectes français et étrangers par Jules Gailhabaud. Paris: Gide,

Éditeur, T. 3, 1858, s.p. Available online: https://catalog.hathi-

trust.org/Record/009268277 [Access 03/09/2020].

4. TORRES BALBÁS, L. (1944). Ob. cit., p. 489.

5. SALVATIERRA CUENCA, V.; GARCÍA GRANADOS, J. A. El Ma-

ristán: visión arqueológica. In: El Maristán de Granada: un hospi-

tal islámico. Granada: Spanish Association of Neuropsychiatry,

1989, p. 51.

IL. 2. Francisco Enríquez, Floor plan of the Arab Hospital in

Granada. In: CLAYE, J (imp.), GIDE (ed.), GAILHABAUD, J (ed. lit.).

Hospital Arabe a Grenade. Plan, T. 3, n.d. (1858).

https://cutt.ly/XhcAYWu

2. Historical-documentary research

to support intervention

Building work on the Maristán began in September

1365 on the orders of Muhammad V and lasted un-

til June 1367, according to the foundation stone that

adorned its entrance gate. One of the reasons for its

swift construction could be due to the existence of

a previous building on the site with a similar mor-

phology and distribution of spaces.

The function of this hypothetical building is unk-

nown, although the division of its floor plan into

four bays set around a central patio suggests it may

have had a similar use to a fanadiq (inn), ribat (mo-

nastery) or madrasa (Islamic school), or particularly

to the contemporary Marinid schools of Morocco

(14th century). Along similar lines to a fanadiq, the-

re has also been speculation that is possibly functio-

ned as an okels

(Khans or caravasar) because of its

typological similarities with this family of oriental

buildings

. Also, it has frequently been observed to

have a similar floor plan and elevation to the Corral

del Carbón in Granada.

The Nasrid Maristán may have resulted from the

refurbishment of a pre-existing building, to which

a second floor and pool were probably added while

access to the rooms was modified. The old hospi-

tal therefore had a rectangular floor plan with four

two-storey bays –symmetrical with their opposite

side and preceded by a porticoed gallery– arran-

ged around a central courtyard with a pool in the

centre that was flanked on its longest sides by two

monumental lion sculptures, now at the Alhambra

Museum.

The stairs were presumably located in the centre

of the longest sides, while the northern façade was

used as the main entrance where the foundation

stone of the hospital

, was placed ; this stone detai-

led that the sultan was the patron of the work, its

function, period of construction, etc.

It is not known on what date the building began to

be used as a mint. Some historians date this new

use after the conquest of the city by the Catholic

Monarchs (1492) or slightly later, between 1499

and 1502

; while others claim that it was an Arabic

mint before that date due to the construction of a

new hospital in Plaza de Bibalbonud

(today Placeta

del Abad) in the mid-15th century.

The 1980 excavations in the south bay documen-

ted the changes made to the layout of the medieval

building: essentially, some rooms were expanded

by joining together pre-existing spaces and the in-

terior corridor that connected all the sides was eli-

minated.

As a result of a visit to the building by royal man-

date in 1585, sources state that at this time approxi-

mately «one hundred workers and coin makers,

relatives of one another»

worked there. At this

6. MARTÍN GARCÍA, M.; GARCÍA GRANADOS, J. A. El Maristán

tras el hallazgo de sus restos. In: Cuadernos de Arte de la Universi-

dad de Granada, XIV. XVI, 1984, p. 10.

7. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Visita a

la Real Casa de la Moneda de Granada (1582). Fomento/ Sig. C.

01929.0020.

8. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Visita a

la Real Casa de la Moneda de Granada (1582). Fomento/ Sig. C.

01929.0020.

9. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Visita

a la Real Casa de la Moneda de Granada (1655). Fomento/Sig.

C.01929.0034.

10. TORRES LÁZARO, J. Obreros, monederos y casas de mone-

da. Reino de Castilla, siglos XIII-XV. Anuario de estudios medieva-

les, núm. 41, 2, 2011 (Ejemplar dedicado a Tecnología Medieval

en el Mediterráneo Occidental), p. 676. Available online: https://

dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3836851 [Access

03/09/2020].

11. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Visita

a la Real Casa de la Moneda de Granada (1655). Fomento/Sig.

C.01929.0034.

12. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Visita

a la Real Casa de la Moneda de Granada (1661). Fomento/Sig.

C.01929.0039.

13. TORRES LÁZARO, J. (2011). Ob. cit. p. 676.

IL. 3. Pedro Salmerón Escobar, Diego Garzón Osuna. Restoration of

the Maristán floor plan, identifying the preserved remains. (2019).

Terrace with medieval structure.

Complete original wall elements.

Remains of walls and foundations

revealed during archaeological

projects.

Theoretical plan of elements that have

been lost or not yet excavated.

Hypothetical covering of

supplementary parts.

Leyenda:

1. Main entrance

2. Possible alternative entrance

3. Staircase to upper ﬂoor

4. Patio

5. Pool

6. Lions (Alhambra Museum)

7. Main rooms

8. Corner room

Possible location of staircase

9. Room

10. Possible second entrance

11. Peristyle

stage, the mint needed repairs, especially to its ti-

led roofs, which were partly sunken and damaged,

and the pool «which was itself neglected and the

drain was blocked»

The most important room, known as the Treasu-

re Room –recorded as being in the upper storey of

the south bay– was «where the treasurer and other

senior officers of the house usually worked»

. The

rooms where the coin was minted (minting works-

hop

) are presumed to have been on the ground

floor, very close to the Treasury (probably also in the

south or west bay), and there may have been a pos-

sible alternative entrance to the main entrance

Calle Bañuelo.

In Granada, there were as many as «eight sma-

ll furnaces (hornaças)»

. There were also other

technical departments: a room for the engraver

(perhaps a workshop for engraving dies

), a smel-

ting room («quarto de las fundiciones») where the

copper coin was melted with the silver coin; and a

IL. 4. Francisco Enríquez, Façade and drawing of constructive,

decorative and sculptural elements. In: CLAYE, J (imp.), GIDE (ed.),

GAILHABAUD, J (ed. lit.) Hospital Arabe a Grenade. Elevation et

Coupe longitudinale, 1858, T. 3, s.p. https://cutt.ly/IhcASP7

final unit, which functioned as a testing laboratory

(«quarto del ensaio»

During the first third of the 17th century, Andrés

Horacio de Lebanto is recorded as being the treasu-

rer and owner of the house. On his death, the estate

passed to his daughter in 1637; however, it was not

definitively adjudicated until 1656 because the will

triggered a lawsuit among his relatives

Later, the building was acquired by the Discal-

ced Mercedarian friars of the Convent of Bethle-

hem

, and this community proceeded to sell it in

1748. From this moment onwards, its new owner

–a wine merchant named José Merchante– began

a programme of works that would transform the

building, aiming to adapt it to its new function

obtaining ample space for storage and stables for

the draught animals.

A new sale must have taken place in around 1825

because it then functioned as a «prisoners’ barrac-

ks»

. The inhabitants of the penitentiary even star-

ted a fire in its facilities in 1834, causing serious

damage.

In 1841 the building was acquired by Vicente López

who, on being informed of its ruinous state, re-

quested a licence to demolish it but met with great

opposition from various intellectuals of the period.

At that time, architect, restorer and academic Fran-

cisco Enríquez y Ferrer drew up a series of plans

outlining its distribution with floor plans, cross-sec-

tions, the main façade and its most significant cons-

truction, decorative and sculptural elements.

The protests were ignored and in August 1843 the

north and west bays were demolished. The demoli-

tion was denounced by the Chairman of the Orna-

ment Commission as it did not have the correspon-

ding license from the Municipal Council

José Giménez Serrano describes the devastated cir-

cumstances in which the property found itself in an

article published in El Siglo Pintoresco in 1846:

«In the centre of the rubble-filled site, one

can still see the pool, around which white

oleander is growing; and among the frag-

ments of carved stucco, luxuriant myrtle

14. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Visita

a la Real Casa de la Moneda de Granada (1661). Fomento/Sig.

C.01929.0039.

15. TORRES LÁZARO, J. Ob. cit., p. 679.

16. ARCHIVO DE LA REAL CHANCILLERÍA DE GRANADA. Pleito

entre Francisca Benita Levanto, vecina de Granada, con Ángela

Levanto y consortes, vecinos de Sevilla sobre la sucesión de los

bienes que dejó Andrés Horacio Levanto (1656). Catálogo de

Pleitos / Caja 586-19.

17. SALVATIERRA CUENCA, V.; GARCÍA GRANADOS, J.A. (1989).

Ob. cit., p. 53.

18. MARTÍN GARCÍA, M.; GARCÍA GRANADOS, J.A. (1984). Ob.

cit., p. 10.

19. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Petición

de que los presos de la Casa de la Moneda sean trasladados,

argumentando las molestias que causan a los vecinos (1834).

Beneficencia y Sanidad/Sig. C.00139.0017.

20. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Corres-

pondencia (1845). Gobierno. Alcalde/Sig. C. 01929.0111.

21. GIMÉNEZ SERRANO, J. España pintoresca. La casa de la Mo-

neda en Granada, El Siglo Pintoresco, Tomo II, núm. 89, 1846, p.

152-153. Available online: http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/detai-

ls.vm?q=id:0003796854&lang=es [Access 03/09/2020]

stalks and shoots of Alexandria and Bengal

roses are laboriously emerging, which seem

to be trying to cover that sad and desolate

ruin with their green garlands»

It was later thought that the Maristán had disa-

ppeared completely, except for its entrance, whose

IL. 5. Pedro Salmerón Escobar, Diego Garzón Osuna. Ground floor of the Maristán site, identifying its uses before the 1984 demolition (2019).

IL. 6. Juan Antonio García Granados, 1984, photo. Demolition of the apartment house that occupied the east bay of the Maristán.

«stone with Arabic inscription» was placed in the

capital’s (archaeological) museum on 21 Novem-

ber 1845»

. Since then, and until the 1970s, when

initial research into the site began

, the remains

of the old building were lost in oblivion. In view

of the important evidence found, in July 1981 the

Commission of Historical and Artistic Heritage de-

cided to initiate proceedings to declare the site an

Archaeological Monument.

Shortly afterwards, the property was sold to some

private individuals who applied for a municipal

building permit to develop an apartment project

inspired by Enríquez’s drawings. At this time, the

property was divided lengthwise, from north to

south, by a wall that took the east side of the pool

as the site of its elevation, creating two sectors that

were divided into plots and occupied by different

buildings.

After a brief period of tension between the suppor-

ters and detractors of this development project, the

Historical Heritage Commission agreed to carry

out excavations, and the Archaeological Museum of

Granada was entrusted with managing this work,

forming a technical team in 1983.

Despite this, the partial demolition of the building

(east side) began without impediment. Before the

damage was irreparable, the museum made an

agreement with the owners to perform the planned

excavations; at the same time, debris was being re-

moved and the Andalusian Government was taking

steps to acquire the plot

Once the process was completed in 1986, thanks to

the expropriation of the site, new excavation works

and other additional processes were begun and the-

se have continued until practically the present day.

However, intervention and enhancement has been

the big issue in recent years, especially since the

Maristán was made a monument in 2005

3. Restoration of space and function

3.1. Reflections on the urban location and the

organization of the building

Other important remnants from the medieval pe-

riod are located very close to the space occupied

by the remains of the building such as the Baño

del Nogal, popularly known as Bañuelo, the Nasrid

House of Zafra and the archaeological remains of

the old gate of Los Tableros with its floodgates, a

key point of the coracha (section of wall) that provi-

ded water to the Alcazaba Qadima in the Albaicín

and the Alcazaba of the Alhambra itself. Numerous

people and pack animals travelled across the top of

this inner urban wall to transport water; this was

of strategic importance for the medieval city be-

fore the Acequia Real (Royal Channel) and main

city channels were operative. This functional axis

passes through the Maristán itself and explains the

possibilities offered by its location and its links to

primitive structures related to water; these subjects

will be explored in the archaeological study planned

in the project.

The Maristán has a porticoed structure around a

rectangular courtyard presided over by a large pool.

The rooms are constructed and connected with a

peristyle on the ground floor and a gallery on the

upper floor. There are two possible positions for the

stairs, in the centre of the longest sides, or the cor-

ners; this aspect will be analysed in the archaeologi-

cal research. The courtyard is the main feature and

the two marble lions give a sense of concentrated

22. ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO MUNICIPAL DE GRANADA. Corres-

pondencia (1845). Gobierno. Alcalde/Sig. C. 01929.0111.

23. SALVATIERRA CUENCA, V.; GARCÍA GRANADOS, J. A.

(1989). Ob. cit.,p. 15-16.

24. Ibid, p. 18.

25. DECREE 113/2005 of 26 April declaring the Nasrid Maristán

in Granada an Asset of Cultural Interest, with the category of Mo-

nument. Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía [online], no. 92,

Seville, 13 May 2005, p. 42-45. Available on the Internet: http://

www.juntadeandalucia.es/boja/2005/92/boletin.92.pdf [Access

04/09/2020]

balance to the discourse of the water in a type of

ritual that probably had both a symbolic and thera-

peutic purpose.

The structure can be described as having a special

magnetism, a subtle attractiveness, if it is imagined

as an architectural object with a firm geometry in

the medieval urban framework, possessing a type

of vanishing point that leads to the Alhambra for-

tification, whose bastions soar straight upwards in

IL. 7. Pedro Salmerón Escobar, Diego Garzón Osuna. Location of the Maristán in the urban plot (2019).

a stunning view that forms a dominant backdrop.

The Maristán was constructed at almost the same

time as the Patio de los Leones and shares with it

the concept of a model with porticos on four sides

and the symbolic presence of lions: strength and

guardianship, conducts for the the most precious

good, water, a vital sustenance that is also aesthetic

and resonant. At the same time, it shares elements

with another earlier palace patio, the patio in Co-

mares Palace, with its decidedly rectangular design

IL. 8. Pepe Marín. General view of the Maristán before the

intervention, Board of Trustees of the Alhambra and Generalife

(2016).

and a pool as the main feature. The utilitarian or-

ganization and distribution of the Maristán, with

small rooms connected to double-storey galleries

is highly reminiscent of the Corral del Carbón, al-

though each building had a different function.

The only part of the original building that survi-

ves as a decent-sized structure is the south sector.

Its roof is a metallic gabled structure covered and

sealed with fibre cement sheets. This covering

was made in 1988-1989 under the management

of architect Eduardo Martín Martín and became

the building’s image until 2020. Its protective

function, originally intended for a limited period

of time, remained for over three decades. This

long period of paralysis was undoubtedly due

to a lack of funds but another equally important

factor must be taken into account: the dilemma

surrounding how to restore such a damaged and

controversial physical structure with such fragile

building materials.

3.2. The dilemma of how to proceed with

restoring the property

The reconstruction debate has a long history, es-

pecially in a continent like Europe that has been

punished by two world wars with far-reaching des-

tructive consequences. The concept of recovering

an identity lost in such a traumatic way has been

behind widespread mimetic reconstructions, what

occurred in Warsaw after the Second World War, for

example; cases in which a more distant restoration

has been used with a commitment to contempo-

raneity have been more successful. This could be

applied in the case of the Maristán, where different

actions are viable depending on what is preserved

in a process that adds the necessary objectivity to

the restoration.

It has been very difficult to progress towards fin-

ding a solution for the Maristán without dividing

any intervention into the property into two or more

stages. Any attempts to establish a unitary project

without distinctions have proved unsatisfactory.

The complete reconstruction of the building has

run up against legal and methodological problems

because a large part of the building is lost. If there is

no solid starting base, a false copy of what disappea-

red could be produced, as Carlo Ceschi explains

without meeting the applicable requirements in an

intervention in historical heritage in accordance

with the current legislation and the directives and

regulations in this area. In contrast, the southern

pavilion offers a solid anchorage point that sets it

apart from the rest.

After several attempts to find a viable solution by

the Department of Culture of the Andalusian Go-

vernment, the process sped up in 2016 when the

Board of Trustees of the Alhambra and Generalife

was entrusted with financing an intervention; the

Board welcomed this challenge within its program-

me of buildings linked to the Alhambra in the city

of Granada. In this way, continuity was given to an

interesting relationship with a new management

26. CESCHI, C. Teoria e storia del restauro. Roma, 1970. Capítulo

XII: Esperienze di guerra e problematiche della ricostruzione, p.

168-208.

concept that began in 1933 when the Corral del Car-

bón was acquired and declared a monument thanks

to architect Leopoldo Torres Balbás, who ran a bri-

lliant policy of acquiring relevant pieces of urban

architectural heritage from the Hispano-Muslim

period

The remains can be divided into three recognisable

areas that can be approached differently: the south

portico, the pool and the rest of the building’s bays

where various archaeological remains have emer-

ged. The intervention becomes unblocked from a

conceptual point of view when these parts are diffe-

rentiated to be worked on in two phases. The initial

2016 commission focused on the south portico and

the closest sector of the pool to ensure the interven-

tion made sense, because working on the pool exp-

lains its relationship with the patio as the defining

feature of this beautiful building.

3.3. Intervention on the south portico and the

pool from a conceptual perspective

The south portico represents value in itself despite

being in ruins because every action on each consti-

tuent material, whether this is wood, brickwork or

rammed earth, can be followed step by step as these

elements are dismantled, reassembled or reinfor-

ced. In other words, there is enough evidence to

make a rigorous analysis of the situation and propo-

se the most appropriate action. Too much time has

passed since it was put in place, but the temporary

cover has protected the remains from disappearing.

Much can be learned from the lesson they offer,

their positioning, their capacity for closing and de-

fining spaces, which is indicated by the textures of

the bare walls that also speak of an evolution. These

vestiges have sufficient power of seduction. Inven-

tion is unnecessary, instead it is a question of wor-

king alongside them.

The project marked out the actions and proposed

which parts should be dismantled for restoration

and then replaced, such as the wooden beams of

the battens or the brick columns of the portico that

are still standing. The walls were not demolished

and were reinforced by encasing them in a way

that was compatible with the original to recover

their load-bearing and functional value. In terms

of individual elements such as wooden joists etc.

that could not be replaced in the building due to

excessive damage, plans were made to store these

elements in the spaces made available for this pur-

pose at the Board of Trustees of the Alhambra and

Generalife, or to exhibit them in the building itself

with a selection of the most significant, as indicated

IL. 10. Manuel Torres Molina Granada. Corral del Carbón, patio.

Interior view of the patio of the Corral del Carbón, with the water

basin in the centre and two floors of arcades (1930-1933?).

APAG. Colección de fotografías. F 07298.

IL. 9. Manuel Torres Molina “Patio of the Corral del Carbón (before

restoration)”. The Corral del Carbón is one of the few examples of

public Arab architecture that is preserved in Granada. It was part

of the non-residential structure of the Islamic city where the main

commercial activities took place. (1920-1930).

APAG. Colección de fotografías. F 00012.

27. SALMERÓN ESCOBAR, P. Torres Balbás. Los inicios de la

planificación en la Alhambra. In: Leopoldo Torres Balbás y la restau-

ración científica Ensayos. Granada: Patronato de la Alhambra y Ge-

neralife, Instituto Andaluz de Patrimonio Histórico, 2013, p. 109.

IL. 11. Pedro Salmerón Escobar, Diego Garzón Osuna. Floor plans and perspective of the Maristán,

indicating the stages of the intervention (2019).

Legend FUTURE DOWN FLOOR

1. Restoration of main façade.

2. Original main hallway (no entrance

from street).

3. Disabled access platform and

reception.

4. Information desk.

5. Peristyle.

6. Patio.

7. Pool.

8.Archaeological remains. Distribution

of rooms.

9. Consolidation of main staircase.

10. Stabilisation of exterior walls.

11. Consolidated south portico.

12. Structural consolidation of east

dividing wall.

13. Disabled access lift (between patio

level and upper gallery).

Legend FUTURE FIRST FLOOR

1. Lightweight perimeter walkway to be

used as an elevated accessible path,

recreation of original routes, viewing of

archaeological remains and patios.

2. Original staircase. Lightweight

structure.

3. Disabled access lift.

4. New staircase (Phase 1).

5. South portico consolidated in Phase 1.

6. New simpliﬁed wooden porticoes.

7. Fully refurbished pool.

Disabled access entrance.

PHASE 2 PHASE 2

FASE II

C/ Bañuelo

PHASE 1 PHASE 1

C/ Portería de la Concepción

FASE

by Camilo Boito (1836-1914) in accordance with the

conditions that any new addition must meet in a

restoration

The pool was another incentive for this restora-

tion, which was planned based on the principles of

scientific restoration; the pool is visible because it

is marked out by walls, even if they have been al-

tered by additions, while the pool bottom has been

transformed but is recoverable. The advantage of

the pool from a preservation point of view is that

it is a structure that goes deep into the ground and

barely touches the surface to achieve its function,

making it less vulnerable –this simple fact has dela-

yed its alteration or destruction. In addition, it was

a useful resource for storing water across periods,

either as a tank or for hygiene and cleaning purpo-

ses. It is the second sector to which the principle of

use can be applied– transforming the architectural

elements and proposing, on the basis of its material

nature, its full integration into the finally restored

building.

This means that, similarly to the rest of the inter-

vention, when identifying the pool as an object, its

constituent elements as a construction piece must

be studied at an archaeological level, and also its

function as a water store with a hydraulic installa-

tion that allows water to enter and exit, cleaning

and makes the lions function, with added value

from an ornamental and symbolic perspective. Ar-

chaeology will carefully dissect this fundamental

piece of the Maristán; a study of the original paving

is also proposed and these remains should emerge

during an intervention that affects the whole space.

It is not uncommon during a project of this type

for valuable elements to emerge during the course

of the work, meaning it is important to envision a

need to adapt to the unforeseeable. This is also true

for studies of the walls that are related to archaeo-

logical research into establishing how the building

was constructed and the logic of its precisely fitting

elements in a brilliant moment in Hispano-Muslim

construction. The project is intended to contribute

to an in-depth knowledge of the Maristán while pre-

serving and enhancing it at the same time.

4. The construction project

In addition to a description of the planned cons-

truction solutions for restoring the southern half of

the Maristán, it should first be emphasised that the

original remains of the building are very poorly pre-

served. It is highly fortunate that the pillars of the

southern portico and part of the nearby walls are sti-

ll standing. The fact that the building was adapted

for other uses during its long history contributed to

maintaining the southern bay until the present day,

while the remaining wings that surrounded the pa-

tio fell by the wayside during successive processes

of ruin and demolition. Occupation of the site has

helped it endure over time, although this has led to

an excessive use of the materials and construction

elements as indicated below.

4.1 Filling on the site. The original paving and

the pool

The building progressively fell into ruin in a series

of processes that began in the 19th century with the

collapse of the west bay; these processes were res-

ponsible for the gradual elevation of the courtyard

and, as a result, the level of the ground floor paving.

The lack of a workforce and the economy made this

a frequent occurrence in the Albaicín in times past,

IL. 12. Pedro Salmerón Escobar. Deterioration of south portico

footing, lower level (2015).

28. CAPITEL, A. Metamorfosis de monumentos y teorías de la res-

tauración. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1988, p. 32.