Puerta de los Tablero

Bridge, City Gate and City Walls in Granada

The Puerta de los Tableros or Gate of the Boards was a water gate into the City of Granada. It was part of the Puente del Cadi or Cadí bridge which was a 11th Century bridge that crossed the Darro river in the City of Granada. Currently only the remains of one of its two towers is standing. It is located on the edge of the Forest of Alhambra.

Where does the Gate of the Board get its name?

The gate of the Gates was a military construction that was used both to allow access to water water, and as a defensive element, it had the ability to dam the water to be released in one go so that its force of its release would capsize approaching vessels. The term boards comes from the method of shoring up the water using wooden boards.

What did Puerta de los Tableros look like?

The bridge has gone and all that remains is one of its two towers of the Puerta de los Tableros. The remain tower is hexagonal-shaped tower mad of sandstone blocks. It was made up of two towers located on both sides of the river, and in the center a horseshoe arch in which an iron portcullis could be lowered.

At the base of the tower you can see the remains of a door, currently walled up, which gave access to internal stairs, from where the river water was collected. You can also see the holes and grooves that were used to access its interior and operate the entire gate mechanism. When it was built there were bars on the riverbed that let the river pass, but not the intruder.

There would have been a coracha between here and the Puerta de las Armas. A coracha is a type of defensive wall only found on the Iberian Peninsula,  that protects the route between a fortress and a specific point that is not far away, commonly, it is used to protect access to the water supply site when it is outside the fortified compound. The shell usually ends in a “water tower” that protects the well or source of supply inside.

History of Puente del Cadi and Puerta de los Tableros

Part of an important bridge and gate that gave access to the city from this part, the bridge connected the Alhambra with the Los Axares neighborhood and served as gates to damn the water from the Darro River and release it suddenly to clean the channel in its path.

Built by the Cadi of King Badis in the 11th century and is mentioned in numerous ancient writings. It was called Bib al-Difaf by the Moors. In 1501, the Catholic Monarchs paid to have the bridge paved.

It was demolished in the 17th century.

The architect Torres Balbás, who was part of the conservation team of the Alhambra, in the mid- 20th century, cast doubt whether this is actually the bridge cited by ancient sources. The Puente del Cadí was next to the church of Santa Ana in the Plaza Nueva. After its disappearance, the gate of the Puerta de los Tableros began to be used for the passage of the civilian population, receiving the name of the old bridge since then.

Currently, the Cadí bridge is included within the management perimeter of the Alhambra.

The Puerta de los Tablero appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Granada!

Other names of Puerta de los Tablero

The Puerta de los Tablero has the following names: Puerta de los Tableros,  Bib al-Difaf.

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Visiting Puerta de los Tablero

Address: Puente del Cadi, Carrera del Darro, 33, 35 18010 Granada Spain
Duration: 10 minutes

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