The mihrab of Vélez-Málaga was part of a small mosque in the suburb built in the 13th-14th centuries and located in the centre of the quibla wall. After the conquest in 1487, the mosque was consecrated as a church and then used as a dwelling, the mihrab being integrated into the courtyard of the mosque until its recovery. It retains its original brick and plasterwork, and its beautiful horseshoe arch is decorated with vegetal (ataurique), geometric and epigraphic (religious inscriptions in Arabic) motifs. On the left-hand side of the arch one can read: “...whoever believes in God and on the last day, performs the prayer, gives alms...” (Qur'an, 9:18).