Alhambra Al Andalus, in an attempt to preserve the small Jewish settlement also located on the natural plateau, Sabikah Hill. Ibn Nasr, the founder of the Nasrid Dynasty, was forced to flee to Jaén to avoid persecution by King Ferdinand III of Castile and the Reconquista supporters working to end Spain's Moorish rule. After retreating to Granada, Ibn-Nasr took up residence at the Palace of Badis ben Habus in the Alhambra. A few months later, he embarked on the construction of a new Alhambra fit for the residence of a sultan. According to an Arabic manuscript since published as the "Anónimo
Moorish Castle and terrain involved, and the fact that mechanical transport on land was not then in use. The strategic importance of Gibraltar rose in the last years of the Moorish rule, when, after the successful Spanish reconquest of the entire Guadalquivir valley, Gibraltar became one of the key elements in communication between the Kingdom of Granada and Moorish domains in northwestern Africa. Construction of the Moorish Castle commenced in the 8th century AD (possibly AD 711); the date of its completion is not recorded. Its walls enclosed a considerable area, reaching down from the upper part of the Rock of Gibraltar