It was the palace-fortress of the city's governing Muslims. Against the hillside of the mount of Gibralfaro, it was constructed in the XI century on the ruins of another Roman bastion. It consisted of 110 main towers and some smaller ones. The Torre del Homenaje deserves special attention.

The three concentric walls that encircle it constitute the main feature, conferring a military characteristic of maximum security among the other similar constructions of the Muslim Spain.