El Corral del Carbon (coal market)

According to Bermudez de Pedraza the Corral del Carbón was constructed a little after 1341 as is suggested by an inscription on the entrance. The first reliable mention is however made by al-Basit, who visited Granada in 1336 during the reign of Yusuf I. He speaks of the bridges over the Darro and mentions “the New Bridge, which connects the Zacatin with the New Caravanserai”. This former Arab funduq, is situated in the centre of Granada and was used as lodgings, storehouse and corn market. During the Nasrid era it was known as the Ahondiga jadida (New Caravanserai). It stood next to the Alcaiceria.

Its layout is square in shape and is based around a central courtyard. Each side of the courtyard is made up of an oblong building divided into separated dwellings. The buildings are all fronted by porticos. In the centre of the courtyard there is a quadrangular stone basin with two inlets for water. The galleries surrounding the courtyard rest on square stone columns on the ground floor and brick columns with wooden supports on the floors above. During the restoration work, interesting mural paintings were found on the facades of the ground and first floors. The decoration was in the form of figurative flowery motifs and geometric patterns in black and vermillion. They are similar to motifs, which had already been found in Granada in several places in the Alhambra, particularly in the casa Zafra from the Nasrid period. Very similar motifs have been found in certain regions of Morocco and in Mauritania, in the town of Walata.

The entrance is through a great horseshoe arch made of brick and decorated with sculpted plaster. In the centre of the arch’s frame there is an inscription. In the centre of the second level, there is a gemelled window, with arches descending onto a delicate column with an elegant Nasrid capital. In the vestibule there is a vault mounted on murqarnas, which were perhaps painted during Arab period. Traces of pigment show the remains of epigraphic and figurative motifs.

This structure is the only surviving Arab funduq on the Iberian Peninsula. It is a reproduction of a type of building that could be found in Persia, Syria and even Spain. There are similar funduqs in Fes (Najjarin quarter), Salé (Askur) and in Venice in Italy (Fondaco dei Turchi).

In its general structure, the building is typical of oriental caravanserai but with a décor and certain details that are incontestably Nasrid. The magnificent entrance is built on the principal of the oriental iwan and similar structures can be found in Sassanid palaces, although their exact origin is still under discussion. A similar gateway can also be seen in Cairo in the funeral mosque of the Sultan al-Zahie Baybars (r. 1260 – 1277).

After it was completed, this caravanserai became the property of the Nasrid sultans. In 1494 the Catholic kings gave it to Sancho de Arana. He died without a successor in 1531 and the building was sold by auction. It was converted into a storehouse for coal and then a theatre until 1593. During the 18^th century it was sold to the city and its structure was modified. The upper floors were converted into apartments and the ground floor into shops, while the courtyard was used as a market, from where the building inherited its present title of corral (market). During the 19^th century, the building belonged to the state and today houses the El Legado Andalusi foundation.