"Going down from the Mirador de San Nicolás along the Cuesta de las Cabras, we reach the Carril de las Tomasas, and very close to the Moorish House of Carmen de Aben-Humeya is the Aljibe de las Tomasas, one of the largest cisterns built in that period. ziri.
Public cisterns were the water supply system for human consumption in Islamic Granada. Not everyone could have a cistern inside their home, so public institutions were in charge of building and controlling the cisterns installed in streets, squares, and outside mosques, with 28 public cisterns located in Antigua. Arab citadel.
Like many of the Albaicín cisterns , this one in Las Tomasas is also supplied by the Aynadamar irrigation canal , and was one of the first to be built at the end of the 11th century and beginning of the 12th century, during the Zirid period, next to the cisterns of the Rey , of San José , and that of the Great Mosque.
The Tomasas cistern, also called Aljibe Grande, was built within the walls of the Qadima Alcazaba of the Albaicín, with Hellenistic and Byzantine techniques. It has a capacity of 154 cubic meters. It is one of the largest Hispano-Muslim cisterns preserved in Granada.
The Tomasas cistern has an almost square plan, 6.60 meters long by 6.50 meters wide and 4.65 meters high. It has 4 molded pillars at the head and base, which support half-barrel vaults cut orthogonally. and that form new edges. These vaults are hidden under the Cuesta de las Cabras square. Its façade, with a semicircular brick arch, is of modern construction, and on the lower right side it preserves a small alcove for the entry of water. This cistern has similar characteristics to the cistern of the Great Mosque of Granada , which is today located under the Royal Chapel.
The popular name of the cistern "Las Tomasas" refers to the convent of Santo Tomás de Villanueva, located at the end of the same street.
A few meters from this cistern is the Aljibe de los Negros or Cuesta de las Tomasas , a small and charming cistern whose curb is arranged on the same ground."
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