Iglesia de San José

The Church of San José was built in 1525 on the site of one of Granada’s oldest mosques – Los Ermitaños Mosque in the Alcazaba neighbourhood.

It stands out because it has Spain’s only pre-Almoravid minaret (9th century). The minaret is an old structure from Moorish Granada, a city that became the capital of the Taifa Ziri kingdom after the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba. It belonged to the Mosque of the Morabitos (Masyid al-Murabitin), demolished in 1517 to build the Church of San José, and the upper bell tower was added.

It has a square floor plan, with a staircase around a central buttress. The lower part was built with Roman ashlars and stone slabs of La Malahá, alternating headers and stretchers.  This and the horseshoe arch on one of its fronts reflect the strong Caliphate tradition in the architecture of the Taifa kingdoms.