Stately towers in the Estate and House of Baza of the Enríquez-Luna lineage (Kingdom of Granada, Spain)

The Estado y Casa de Baza (State and House of Baza) was formed by the Enríquez-Luna family in the northeast of the Kingdom of Granada after the Christian conquest of Madīnat Basṭa (the medieval city of Baza) in 1489. The location of the border of these territories, encompassing the northernmost part of the current Andalusian provinces of Granada and Almería, made it necessary to establish various defensive mechanisms to protect the population in al-Andalus times. The chroniclers who were present during the siege and capture of this city agreed on the large number of defensive structures that protected the cultivated areas immediately adjacent to the city walls, even indicating that there were more than ‘a thousand’ small towers, as those who owned an orchard used to build a tower on it and protect it with walls so as not to facilitate access to the city for enemies from the surrounding area via the flat countryside. After the Christian conquest, Baza came under the control of Enrique Enríquez de Quiñones, uncle and chief steward of Ferdinand II of Aragon, who was given the governorship of the city fortress. In addition, the Catholic Monarchs granted him the lordship of Orce and Galera in 1492, which he supplemented with various acquisitions in the Highlands of Baza and the Filabres mountain range, with Tahal as the head of this jurisdiction. The existence of a large number of fortifications in this territory, among which the towers stood out, as indicated in the chronicles of the conquest, led the Enríquez-Luna dynasty to build or rebuild residential towers in the main municipalities that made up their extensive lordship, giving them new symbolism, but linking them to the islamic building tradition of the previously existing defensive elements.