Arab Quarter in Evening, Alicante

Returning late the night before yesterday from the Santa Barbara fortress, I found myself in the amazing Barrio de la Santa Cruz, located on the western slope of Mount Benacantil. I was struck by its sharp contrast with the urbanized and multi-storey Alicante. While preparing for the trip, I did not see any mention of this wonderful place in the guidebooks, this find was a real surprise. Today, after returning from Tabarca Island, I decided to familiarize myself with it in more detail, despite the fact that it is already dark in January at six in the evening. At night, the deserted labyrinths of ancient streets made an indelible impression on me. As you know, the fortress in present-day Alicante was founded by the Arabs in the 9th century, and a settlement arose under its walls. The inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, fishing, and some of the sailors coughed up piracy. This settlement was named Medina Al Laquant and it is not difficult to catch in this consonance with the current name of the city. Thus, it can be considered that this is the oldest part of the city that has survived to the present day. By the 13th century, when these territories returned to Christian control, there were two mosques, a bazaar, and besides the Arabs, there was also a Jewish community in the city. The Peasants began building closer to the seashore, so the quarter remained Arab-Jewish for a long time. The Christianization of the quarter began in the early 16th century, when Queen Isabella of Castile issued a decree on the baptism of Muslims. In 1616, the Cathedral of Santa Cruz was built, which gave the current name to the quarter. Now the Arab period is remembered only by the intricate layout of streets on different levels with many stairs, and the architecture of houses richly decorated with bright colors and ceramics in the Moorish style. In addition, both on the streets and on the walls of houses, you can see a huge number of pots with flowers, which gives the quarter a festive look. When I wandered through these streets, I did not meet more than one person. Unfortunately, this quiet and cozy corner of Alicante has recently become very popular among tourists, which causes discontent among local residents. On the other hand, local residents themselves massively put rooms in their homes on housing reservation services.