| We came to Granada to see the Alhambra, but found other parts of it nice enough as well. The day we arrived and the first full day were overcast, so our reserved tour of the Alhambra was done in low light. The next day was beautiful so we went again, before returning that night for an "after dark" tour. If you can't tell by three visits, we really liked the building, but by the end were completely OD'd on tile and stucco. |
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This central fountain depicts Queen Isabella and C. Columbus discussing plans for his voyage. |
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More narrow streets... more of a brown tone this time |
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This is the "river" Darro, which is a pleasant enough walk below the Alhambra. |
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A cloudy view of the Alhambra from El Mirador de San Nicolas |
| The Alhambra is a complex consisting of a fort, a couple palaces, a garden and various out buildings built over three centuries starting in roughly 1200AD.... BUT when you say "Alhambra" what most people are referring to is the Nasrid Palace.
Because we visited three times, the pictures will kind of jump around as we tried to select the best ones.
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Tour entry to the Nasrid Palace |
| Back to more tile... the originals being hand cut... "azulejo" derives from the Moorish word "az-zulayj" or "little stone". The prohibition against the depiction of people/animals along with "the infinity of god" being a theme in Islam helped lead to this art form.
The particular style is "alicatado" which derives its name from the type of pincer used, alquata'a or alicate in modern Spanish. The pieces were cut, placed face down and then covered in gypsum plaster.
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"There is no conquer but Allah" The Nasrid motto, here repeated in calligraphy throughout the palace. |
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A view BACK to Saint Nicolas' Mirador. |
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Strain you neck looking at the intricate wooden and stucco ceilings. |
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Yes, I do occasionally get my picture taken... |
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The Courtyard of the Myrtle. This is one of the first examples (1354) where a shallow pool of water has been designed primarily to reflect a building. You can see some later examples of the same technique here (1630) and here (1900). |
What can I say? |
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A small stalagmight ceiling in a side alcove of the the courtyard. |
| The Palace and the Courtyard of the Lions... more later. |
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Original ironwork on a door of the courtyard. |
Ok, I'll say more later... |
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| The courtyard was the focal point of the Sultans private residence. The columns use led joints to perfectly align the sections and to provide some "earthquake" protection. |
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Lots of stray/feral cats... but none of them friendly. |
| A quick stop in the rain to the Generalife gardens, but we will be back! |
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So, on the rainy day, we go back into town and hit the cathedral... must have made the furniture delivery guy happy to show up here. |
| Big white columns, old gilded monuments... getting very OD'd on "Madonna with Child". I need to write a tourism guide... "Catholic Churches for non Catholics" |
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This pseudo modern section of tourist oriented stores is built over the old silk market and maintains some of the "bazaar" feel. |
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The Hotel... eh... it was ok... good location... but the had The Fox News Channel on the TV... so minus 1 point for bad taste. |
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Next day, night and sunny... back in line for an afternoon entry... but hey, we felt lucky to be able to buy same day tickets at all! If you want to go we highly recommend booking ahead or request that your hotel do it for you. |
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Back to the Generalife gardens... pronounced "Heneral-ee-fe". |
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A view back towards the Nasrid Palace and on to the lower town. |
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This is a neat water "staircase" where even the "handrail" has been brought into the act.
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This is the tower of the Parador, which is located inside the Alhambra. It is, not surprisingly, the most popular parador in Spain... so book early! |
| The "Wine Gate" the name derives from the tax free wine that was sold inside the gate from 1554.
The western facade contains a "mysterious" key. The fact that the portal is a straight entrance lends credence to the belief that this gate was for civil use and had no military purpose.
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The older and more "fortress" section of the complex is the Alcazaba or "Old Citadel". Construction began in the 9th century, but probably on a Roman base. Over the years and the various rulers, major to minor changes were made. |
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A view of the Cathedral from the Torre de la Vela. |
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A view from the Torre de la Vela (Watchtower) across the building foundations of the Plaza de Armas and on to the Torre Quebrada (Cracked Tower) |
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This is the interior plaza of the Palace of Carlos (Charles) V. The poor guy conquered Granada but no one comes to see his palace... it is simply boring sitting next to the Nasrid feast.
You must give him credit though... he didn't level the Nasrid palace, which is probably the major reason we can enjoy it today.
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Ok, going back in again... the gardens around all the buildings must be mentioned... we caught them a little past peak, but the roses were still fantastic |
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Uh... don't know why this first... but it is. |
| The Courtyard of the Mexaur.
Though extensively restored, the original was probably built to commemorate the siege of Algeciras by Muhammad V in 1369.
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Probably the same alcove as before...??? but now with some sunlight. |
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The Dutch artist M.C. Escher visited the Alhambra in 1926 and again in 1936... can you see where he got some inspiration? |
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Bird on a door. |
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Courtyard of the Myrtle... again |
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Ceiling in The Hall of the Abencerrages, which is off the Courtyard of the Lions. The hall is named after a family that legend has it, were murdered in the room. The high ceiling, with high windows and a small fountain provide a kind of natural air conditioning. |
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Ceiling from "The Hall of the Two Sisters" which is also off of one side of the Courtyard of the Lions.
The style is called "Mocarabes" and is intended to be "cave-like" or "heaven-like" depending on who you read. The construction uses sets of standard stucco elements that can be joined to form essentially an infinite number of patterns. This particular ceiling is composed of 5,416 individual pieces.
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More tile... one of the "requirements" of the design is that the small patterns build to bigger patterns and so on and so on... |
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Most of it is lost to history and accidents, but the palace had extensive use of stained glass. |
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These interesting shapes are the roofs over the palace baths (Banos)... the plexiglass panels over the vents/skylights were reportedly originally red glass. |
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Well, these baths are in much better condition than the ones in Ronda... but you can't go in. Moorish baths basically follow the Roman model... of having 3 rooms... warm, hot and cold. Heat was transferred by steam under the floor. |
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| The Tower of the Ladies |
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A view from the patio NW towards the caves where the "Gypsies" live. |
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The small but intricate oratory |
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This is a reproduction of the original patio ceiling... which we have seen! it is housed in the Islamisches Museum in Berlin. |
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Back down in the town.... and from our lunch stop, you can clearly see the Torre de la Vela of the Alcazaba. |
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Back up at the Parador for dinner... a relatively cheap way to pretend you are staying there and enjoy the views from the terrace. |
| Night views of the Alcazaba while waiting for the tour to begin. |
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Night tour of the Nasrid Palace. Definitely requires a reservation as there is only one entrance time and the sizes are strictly limited. |
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On the way out... |