Towers and higher Alhambra

The Rauda tower started to be called like the gardens ("rawda") that surround the building of the royal cemetery, which is located behind the Patio of the Lions. The Tower is connected to the Palace of the Lions through a door.

The Garden of the Partal covers all the area between the exit of the Rauda and the esplanade where the Ladies Tower stands.

The Ladies Tower is the most important building of those that belonged to the magnates who lived around the Royal Palace during the Arab period and its decoration is the oldest of the Alhambra. It has received many and different names, depending on who inhabited it, although since the late 18th century it was called the Ladies Tower. To the left of this tower are three small Arab houses that were built after the tower. Some paintings were found in one of these houses. They are of especial interest, as they are the only ones of that specific type within the Muslim period in Spain that have been preserved.

The Tower of the Mihrab stands to the right of the Ladies Tower. Inside there is an oratory for the people who lived in the palace next to it.

The Tower of the Points received this name because its merlons end in brick pyramids.

The Tower of the Judge used to be called the Prisoner's Tower and the Tower of the passing She-Fox.

The Tower of the Captive was called Tower of the Woman Thief and Tower of the Sultana. The name of the tower was changed to Tower of the Captive because it was thought that Lady Isabel de Solís lived there. She converted to the Islam with the name of Zoraya and was Muley Hacén's favourite wife.

In the 16th century this tower was called Ruiz y Quintarnaya's Tower, for this was its inhabitant's name. Since the 17th century it has received this new name because of the legend by Washington Irving about the princesses Zaida, Zoraida and Zorahaida. The palace-tower is located on the eastern ramparts, between the Tower of the Captive and the Tower of the End of the Street.

It is located between the Tower of the Princesses and the Water Tower. Only some remains of the tower are left, for it was destroyed by Napoleon's troops when they left Granada.

The Water Tower is so called because it is next to the aqueduct that takes water from the Generalife to the Alhambra. Only some remains of the tower are left, for it was destroyed by Napoleon's troops when they left Granada.

The Tower of the Seven Floors, on the southern part of the fortress, was the most important entrance to the Alhambra. The Muslims called it Bib «al-Gudur», which means Gate of the Wells.

The southeastern area of the complex is called the Upper Alhambra (Alhambra Alta) and it comprises the Unirrigated Land and the area between it and the Garden of the Partal (Jardines del Partal) and the Wine Gate (Puerta del Vino). Charles V Palace (Palacio de Carlos V) now occupies part of that space.