La arquitectura y el urbanismo de la Alpujarra presentan un fuerte carácter comarcal que fue definido en época andalusí y que todavía conserva parte de los elementos que lo conforman. Entre ellos, las fuentes y lavaderos constituyen uno de los conjuntos arquitectónicos más característicos de los núcleos de población de una región cuyo paisaje está fuertemente determinado por el aprovechamiento del agua de la vertiente sur de Sierra Nevada. Una compleja red de acequias permite regar los bancales de cultivo, que estructuran y cualifican este territorio, mientras que las fuentes, abrevaderos, lavaderos y albercas ofrecen servicios públicos y articulan el trazado urbano. En esta investigación se realiza una aproximación a los conjuntos hidráulicos de la comarca de la Alpujarra granadina, para lo que se estudian su localización urbana, su circuito de agua y la morfología de sus elementos. Así mismo, se pone el foco en su valores patrimoniales y en su relevancia para los sentimientos identitarios de la población local.

Due to the conflicts that existed among the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages, the territories of al-Andalus were protected with defensive architecture that played an influential role on the landscape. The development of these fortresses was necessarily linked to water, either because of the strategic control of a hydraulic resource or because of the need to provide to inaccessible places, as it is often the case of the emplacement of these constructions. The study of their implantation in the territory and the hydraulic elements that they preserve has revealed quite diverse systems of water supply. This paper presents the comprehensive overview that emerged after verifying that many of the existing cisterns, rather than being autonomous and isolated elements, as has often been considered, are strongly related to the organization and development of the fortresses, sometimes located at the end of complex and advanced hydraulic networks, closely linked to the topography of each place. This study is devoted to the water supply systems of some of the most significant fortresses in the last territories of al-Andalus, corresponding to the Nasrid kingdom of Granada (1238–1492).

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This paper presents some of the information obtained during the archaeological surveys carried out in 2019 in the stately fortress known as Torre de Isso, located in the municipality of Hellín (Albacete). These fieldworks have attempted to answer some questions related to the historical interpretation of the preserved monumental remains, specifically two large towers and some walls from the second half of the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The initial study and graphical documentation were carried out to obtain the data needed to draft a conservation project in line with current scientific criteria.Extending the investigation to the whole neighborhood of houses that surrounds the towers resulted in the discovery of a quadrangular fortress of 44 x 42 m, which incorporates the towers and in which different construction phases have been identified, certainly prior to and subsequent to the Christian conquest. The remains found were reused in the load-bearing walls of some of the houses. Beside the fortress, we extended the study to the entire village of Isso, in order to find out if the medieval castle had an annexed relevant village. Finally, the surveys expanded throughout the entire territory of Isso, with the desire to know if its characteristic dispersed settlement, made up of small farmhouses, and its traditional irrigation system, have a medieval origin.This multidisciplinary research project has allowed us to obtain extensive data and produce significant information, although it should be noted that many issues and some of the interpretations offered in this article are still hypothetical. Therefore, only future development of additional archeological and historical works will make it possible to tackle those questions that remain to be answered.