Gate of Bibarrambla

[1][2] Built in the 14th century during the Nasrid period, it stood at the corner of a public square of the same name, Plaza de Bibarrambla.

[1] Local legend suggests that this name is linked to the tradition of taking the ears (and other body parts) of executed criminals and hanging them for display.

[4] Another theory suggests that during the reign of Philip IV of Spain, a floating tablao carrying too many people had sunk.

[4][3][1] A campaign to preserve the gate was supported by the Spanish president of the time but failed to dissuade the council.

[1][3] In 1933 or 1935, Leopoldo Torres Balbás, the curator-architect in charge of the Alhambra's conservation, executed a partial reconstruction of the gate.

[9] A Catholic Monarch hung a painting on the second arch of the gate: Our Lady of the Rose, named after the flower that the child is holding.

The purpose was to Christianize the main elements of Muslim architecture and show visitors the new religion of the newly conquered city.

The partially reconstructed gate as it appears today in the woods near the Alhambra
A line engraving by James Baylis Allen based on a drawing by Scottish painter David Roberts , showing the front side of the gate as it stood circa 1830
This photograph of the gate taken around 1870, showing its poor condition prior to demolition
The reconstructed gate from 1935
Painting of the Nuestra Señora de la Rosa (Our Lady of the Rose) which was placed in the gate. Currently is located in the Museum of Fine Arts of Granada .