The Yusufiyya Madrasa

The madrasa, college or centre for higher education is an institution, which was officially established by Nizam al-Mulik, vizier to the Sejuq Sunni sultan Malik Shah, in order to combat Fatimid propaganda spread by the Cairo madrasas (the al-Azhar mosque was declared a madrasa in 988). Most of Iran’s major cites and those of the Near East (Nishapur, Baghdad) saw the establishment of Nizam madrasas (nizamiyya). Privately funded schools had already been in existence for many years but official sanction gave these centres greater influence and they often spread disguised political propaganda in the guise of different forms of teaching.

This monument is one of the major Nasrid constructions from the 14th century. The “house of science” was founded by the Nasrid sultan Yussuf I (r. 1333 – 1354). Ibn al-Khatib, the vizier of Granada, spoke of it in the year of its construction: “ (Yusuf I) constructed this admirable madrasa as the most important of all the madrasas in his capital and it will remain in the hands of his successors for evermore.”  It is the last Spanish-Muslim madrasa remaining in Spain.

Known as the yusufiyya madrasa, this ancient Arab university was the second madrasa to be created in al-Andalus and the only state owned educational institute to have really been effective. Another madrasa had already been founded in Malaga, but it was a private institution on a much smaller scale, located near the main mosque and the market.

The construction of the yusufiyya madrasa seems to have been to fulfil the sultan’s desire to show his power in the Muslim west, to the detriment of other such establishments in the Maghreb. We know that at well as several eminent jurists and scholars from al-Andalus and the Maghreb, the famous preacher Ibn Marzuq taught in this madrasa in 1354. 

The original building has not been entirely preserved but today we can still admire a beautiful oratory, whose mihrab was inspired by the one in the Cordoba mosque. It is decorated with stucco with epigraphic, geometric motifs as well as flowered patterns, all of which are characteristic of Nasrid ornamentation. The original lintel of the monumental entrance and two steles are now to be found in the Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico in Granada. The lintel, decorated with epigraphic motifs, commemorates the founding of the school.

In terms of architectonic characteristics and typology, it is important to underline the influence of the madrasas of North Africa. The schools in Marrakech, Salé and Meknes, the al-Attarin and al-Bu ‘Inaniyya madrasas in Fes and the Abu Madyan madrasa in Tlemcen are all contemporaries of this building.

After the Christian conquest, from the 16th century onwards, this madrasa became the seat of the Granada local authorities. During the 18th century a large part of the building was destroyed and between 1722 and 1729 a new structure was completed, following the plans of José de Bada. The municipal corporation chamber (Sala de cabildos) is one of the most remarkable elements of this former city hall. It is built on two floors, the second being reached by a baroque staircase with a false cupola. The room has a wood panelled ceiling, whose beams and framework is decorated with paintings in the style of the first Spanish renaissance. The site now belongs to the university of Granada and has recently been restored.