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The Moors crossed the strait of Gibraltar in 711 and settle in what was then a small Visigoth town
perched atop the Alhambra hill. Here they settled, erected walls and laid the foundation for the prosperous
civilization that would follow. It was in the 9th century when Granada rose to importance after the fall of the
Caliphate of Cordoba. Its splendor was reached in 1238, when Mohammed been Nasar founded the Nasrid dynasty, and the
kingdom of Granada stretched from Gibraltar to Murcia. This dynasty bore twenty kings until King Boabdil was forced
to surrender Granada to the Catholic monarchs, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, in 1492.
During three centuries, a magnificent and rich Islamic culture flourished, leaving Granada with architectural
marvels of the caliber of the Alhambra, declared a World Heritage site, along the Generalife and the Albaicin.
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