The Alhambra Opens Europe's First Exhibition Space Dedicated to Amazigh Culture

The Alhambra and Generalife Board of Trustees and the Doctor Leila Mezian Foundation have opened the first exhibition space in Europe dedicated to Amazigh culture.

This new Amazigh Space can be visited at the Carmen de los Porcel, a unique heritage site where thirty burials carried out according to Islamic rites and twelve additional graves, whose dating has yet to be determined, have been discovered. With a history spanning more than 3,000 years, Amazigh culture is one of the oldest indigenous civilisations in North Africa and played a fundamental role in the development of al-Andalus.

The permanent exhibition brings together 189 objects, including ceramics, textiles, everyday artefacts and jewellery. A significant part of the Amazigh jewellery collection has been donated by diplomat and ambassador Jorge Dezcallar and his wife, Teresa Eça. The exhibition is complemented by audiovisual resources that help visitors understand this culture and its historical links with Andalusia. Many of the pieces on display come from the collection of the Doctor Leila Mezian Foundation.

The exhibition is organised into an introductory area and seven sections spread across two floors. Each section includes heritage objects, historical maps, interactive elements and audiovisual resources. Visitors can explore the origins of the Amazigh peoples, their identity, language and the territories they inhabited throughout history. The exhibition also examines the evolution of the Tifinagh alphabet and contemporary efforts to recover and revitalise the Tamazight language.

Another highlight of the exhibition is its focus on the role played by Amazigh communities in the formation of al-Andalus and in the creation of the shared political and cultural space linking the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb. The visit concludes with an exploration of Granada's connections with Amazigh traditions and the living expressions of this heritage in architecture, ceramics, craftsmanship, textiles, music and ways of life.

The history of the Alhambra, Granada and the former Nasrid Kingdom is closely linked to Amazigh dynasties and peoples, who played a significant role in the political, cultural and military development of al-Andalus. The Almoravids and Almohads unified vast territories of the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula for centuries. The Nasrid Kingdom later inherited much of this legacy. The new exhibition space aims to highlight these connections and offer new perspectives for understanding Andalusi heritage within a broader Mediterranean context.

In addition to hosting a permanent exhibition, the Amazigh Space has been conceived as a centre for intercultural dialogue. It will feature its own programme of scientific and educational activities, developed in collaboration with the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies in Granada. Planned activities include lectures, international seminars, film series, educational programmes and concerts.

The inauguration brought together institutional representatives and figures from the cultural sector. Among those attending were Patricia del Pozo, Regional Minister for Culture and Sport of the Andalusian Government, and Granada's Mayor, Marifrán Carazo. During the event, updates were also presented on the archaeological excavation campaign currently taking place around the Carmen de los Porcel.

The archaeological work has documented thirty funerary structures associated with Islamic burial practices, with bodies laid on their sides and facing Mecca. In addition, ten graves built with brick and plaster have been uncovered, although their chronology has not yet been determined.

On the Mauror Hill, where the Carmen de los Porcel is located, the existence of dungeons and silos used to store grain during times of war and scarcity was already known. Recent excavations, however, have also revealed the presence of burials and confirmed that one of the silos was located next to a burial pit.

The earliest surviving structures at the Carmen de los Porcel date back to the Nasrid period. Throughout its history, the site served as a storehouse, dungeon and necropolis, making it one of the most distinctive heritage spaces managed by the Alhambra and Generalife Board of Trustees.

Covering an area of nearly 20,000 square metres, the complex includes two towers, sections of defensive walls, Nasrid dungeons, silos, a necropolis and a medieval irrigation system. During the nineteenth century, the Porcel family, one of Granada's most prominent families of the time, built a main residence, service buildings and romantic gardens featuring pergolas, pools, pathways and viewpoints.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the property passed into the hands of Mariano Miralles Dalmases, known as “the Catalan”, which is why the site is also popularly known as the “Carmen de los Catalanes” (Carmen of the Catalans). It later belonged to Guillermo García Valdecasas and his heirs until it was acquired by the Alhambra and Generalife Board of Trustees in 2002.

Today, the site is a heritage space of great historical and landscape value, offering exceptional views of the Alhambra, the Torres Bermejas, Granada, the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Vega plain. The opening of the Amazigh Space adds a new cultural dimension to this unique setting, reinforcing its role as a meeting point between the different traditions that have shaped the history of the western Mediterranean.