Muslims had an important relationship with water in Al-Andalus. They integrated hydraulic techniques from Romans and other cultures to manage and distribute water according to Islamic norms. Water was also precious in Islamic imagination as a part of paradise. When Muslims arrived in Iberia, they reactivated urban life and built new cities, mosques, baths and economic activities requiring water supplies. Their water treatment involved specialized guilds regulating ditches within cities according to urban structures. In Granada, the Nasrid sultan constructed a prodigious hydraulic system at the Alhambra diverting water from the Darro River through canals and reservoirs to supply the Alhambra, Generalife, Medina and more.

1. Cúllar Vega, Granada,
2019
Water & Culture – Be the
Change

2. 1. What relationship did Muslims have with water?
Al-Andalus was formed thanks to a Muslim society integrated
into civilization and the world of classical Islam. In these years of
Islamic domination, there were many innovations that this
culture introduced in the territories of al - Andalus, among them
several hydraulic techniques inherited both from the Romans
and from the more traditional oriental cultures. Indeed, the
management and distribution of water in Al-Andalus was not
alien to the fact of its belonging to the whole of Dar-al-Islam.
This means that Islamic norms, apart from local customs,
affected the way of organizing what was undoubtedly the most
precious asset of nature for Muslims. In addition, water has a
present value in the imagination of Muslims, since it is a
fundamental part of paradise. Paradise is also present in the
agrarian space both inside and outside the madina. Thus, in the
interior of the cities we find gardens and gardens.

3. 1. What relationship did Muslims have with water?
The best way to
understand this project
has been working with
cooperative work
groups, where each one
had an opinion about
the different concepts
worked on.

4. WATER TREATMENT
The provision of water to the city
appears united to the zirí dynasty as
it demonstrates the fact that the turn
of the acequia was destined for the
turns of Alcazaba Qadima, the seat
of the sinhayíes emirs. In addition,
said channel appears to have had a
first objective fill the cistern located
in this palace, whose name is
revealed, since it is called Aljibe del
Rey and also Al-Qadim, the old.

5. 2. WATER TREATMENT
Understanding the
starting point, we
begin to develop
the work

6. 3. Difference in water treatment between Muslims
and other peoples
The arrival of the Arabs will mean a reactivation of urban life and the founding of new cities.
In many cases we know that the hydraulic supplies of antiquity were destroyed. Thus, the
urban reservoirs, mosques, baths and economic activities developed in them required a
water supply. The flow of the ditches in the interior of an Andalusian city had to adjust to
multiple uses. Its regulation could be carried out by specialized guilds. The organization of
the ditch inside the medina followed especially the urban structure marked by the mosques
and neighborhoods.

7. 3. Difference in water treatment between Muslims and
other peoples
At this point of
the project, we
specify in our city
of Granada

8. 4. Muslim hydraulic constructions in Granada
and specifically in the Alhambra.When in 1238 the Nasrid sultan Muhammad I chose
Granada to build his residence and cut on the hill of
the Alhambra he devised a prodigious hydraulic
system. He built a dam or diversion dam from the
Darro River that diverted the stored water to a ditch
or channel, excavated in the rock halfway down the
slope, called the Acequia Real. From this canal and
its branch, the Acequia del Tercio, the water
descends almost 6 kilometers until reaching the
Alhambra. The Acequia del Tercio feeds the
Albercón de las Damas that irrigates the orchards of
the area and the Acequia Real continues and
extends into a network of reservoirs, reservoirs,
ferris wheels, fountains, pools and pillars that carry
water to the Generalife, to the Medina , to the

9. 4. Muslim hydraulic constructions in Granada and
specifically in the Alhambra.
Finally we
started creating
the exhibition
posters

10. 5. BE THE CHANGE
The Muslims liked the environment for water
since for them it was like a paradise. The
Water for them was a super important and
sacred thing, since they said that they came
from the gods of heaven.They used to look for
the areas where there was abundant water to
stay to live together with their relatives and
thus be able to stock up on it as much as to
drink, irrigated land … etc.

11. … and these are the results of our
projects

12. … and these are the results of our projects

13. … and these are the results of our
projects

14. We hope
you like
it!

15. BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Carmen Trillo San José, “El agua en al-Andalus: teoría y
aplicación según la cultura islámica”, Tecnología del Agua,
Año XXVI, nº 27, abril 2006, 85-93.
- Sistema hidráulico en la Alhambra
- https://rutacultural.com/el-agua-en-la-alhambra/
- https://www.cma.junta-andalucia.es/medioambiente/
portal_web/servicios_generales/doc_tecnicos/2010/
agua_domesticada/parte_1/EAD10.pdf