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THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES, Granada

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THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES, Granada
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THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES
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THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: The Sala de los Abencerrajes
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  • By easyoar on November 9, 2004
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  • Ceiling of the Sala de los Abencerrajes - Granada
    Ceiling of the Sala de
    los Abencerrajes
    by easyoar
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    The Sala de los Abencerrajes does not really translate into English very well, the best that can be done is The Hall of the Abencerrajes. What's a 'Abencerrajes' when one is at home then, is probably your next question.

    The Abencerrajes were a politically powerful family towards the end of the period that the Moors lived in Spain. You might think they would be pleased to have their family name given to a Hall in the sultans palace, but I suspect that under the circumstances they would not.

    The second to last Sultan of Granada (Abu'l Hassan) had a favourite wife, Zoraya. One day he caught her in the garden in the arms of the chief of the Abencerraje clan. In revenge, he murdered 16 princes of this clan in this very room, hence the name. I've no idea what he did to Zoraya though.

    There is yet another small fountain in this room, which has rust stains around it. Apparently popular belief is that these rust stains are actually still traces of the blood from the murders that took place in this room.

    Anyhow, I still haven't got to the most interesting part of the present day room. If you forget to look up, you will miss out. The ceiling is one of the most impressive you will see anywhere. Apparently the geometry of it was inspired by Pythagoras' Theorem.

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  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: Patio de Los Leones
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  • Updated By easyoar on November 12, 2004
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  • Patio de los Leones - Granada
    Patio de los Leones
    by easyoar
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    This patio is in the heart of the harem (i.e. the part of the palace where the Sultan kept all of his wives). Whilst this is probably one of the most stunning parts of the whole Alhambra, I can't help but feel that it has been rather badly named. In case you can't speak Spanish, Patio de los Leones translates into "Patio of the Lions".

    To my eye at any rate, I cannot see a single Lion. Instead I see a collection of small dogs reminiscent of Tintin's dog Snowy.

    I suspect I'm not the only person to be disappointed by the distinct lack of Lion type attributes of the animals in the centre of the patio. Apparently the inscription on the bowl the Lions are holding up states that "How much fiercer they would look if they weren't so restrained by their respect for the sultan".

    Perhaps the embarrassed architect added this afterwards when he saw how his Lions had come out, hoping this obvious kowtowing to the Sultan would cover for his distinct lack of animal realism...

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  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: Advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: Stunning views down to Granada
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  • By easyoar on November 9, 2004
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  • Panoramic View of Granada from the Alhambra - Granada
    Panoramic View of Granada from
    the Alhambra
    by easyoar
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    The City of Granada is down below the Alhambra. As you come out of the Palace section of the Alhambra, look down over the wall to your left hand side. You will see a great view down onto the whitewashed houses with their red tiled roofs. Whitewashed walls and red tiled roofs are the standard building in Andalusia, and Granada is no exception to this rule!

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  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: Moorish Tiles
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  • By easyoar on November 9, 2004
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  • Moorish Tiles in the Alhambra - Granada
    Moorish Tiles in the Alhambra
    by easyoar
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    The internal walls of many of the rooms in the Alhambra are covered with highly decorated tiles, which have geometrically repeating themes.

    These tiles are so popular, that it is very common to see modern reproductions inside peoples houses in the South of Spain (Andalusia). Although Spain is a very Christian country these days (although not as strict as in Franco's times!), the people of Andalusia are very proud of their Moorish heritage, and this is reflected in many things. The food in particular is still very Moorish in parts.

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  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: Patio de los Leones (Part II)
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  • By easyoar on November 9, 2004
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  • Intricate stonework at the Patio de los Leones - Granada
    Intricate stonework at
    the Patio de los Leones
    by easyoar
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    Now already having said how I feel that the Lions themselves in this patio detract a little from the Patio itself, what cannot fail to catch your eye is the sheer intricacy of the stonework and the 124 marble columns that hold it all up.

    The patio itself was designed to ne an interior garden of the palace and was planted with bushes and herbs that would have added wafts of scent into the air. Three of the most important rooms in the Palace open out onto this patio. Namely the "Sala de los Abencerrajes", the "Sala de los Reyes", and the "Sala de las Dos Hermanas". These translate into "The Hall of the Abencerrajes" - (see separate tip for explanation), "The Hall of the Kings", and the "Hall of the Two Sisters".

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  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: The Patio de Arrayanes - Alhambra
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  • Updated By easyoar on November 21, 2004
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  • The Patio de Arrayanes - Alhambra - Granada
    The Patio de Arrayanes -
    Alhambra
    by easyoar
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    This Patio is probably badly named, as most of it is actually a pool with a gargling fountain at one end. The Moors who built the Alhambra loved water and especially the sound of it, so this is a recurring theme all the way through the Alhambra.

    The patio itself goes around the outside of the pool, and is bordered by myrtle hedges. The water helped to reflect light into the surrounding halls (the rooms in the Alhambra tend to be quite dark as they don't have too many windows).

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  • Phone: 902 441 221
  • Directions: Tel. bookings: BBVA bank : 902 224 460 from Spain or through web site
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: Palace and Courtyard of the Lions
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  • Updated By Ekaterinburg on July 4, 2007
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  • Arches and pillars in the Courtyard of the Lions - Granada
    Arches and pillars in the
    Courtyard of the Lions
    by Ekaterinburg
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    A narrow passage connects the Myrtle Patio with the neigbouring Patio and Palace of the Lions. This for me, was the most beautiful and most interesting of all the palaces. The patio is completely surrounded by galleries containing even more stunningly decorated plasterwork than any we'd seen up to this point. The arches here are narrower than in the Myrtle patio and supported by pairs of slender pillars. The pattern is continued right around the whole courtyard in a rhythmic fashion which almosts seems like a piece of music. The atmosphere is graceful and feminine and it is perhaps not a coincidence that off this area was the harim, home to the wives and concubines of the Nasrite rulers. In the centre of the patio is the even more famous Lions Fountain, with no less than 12 kings of the jungle spouting out watery serenades. During my visit the lions weren't home and the fountain was boxed in but hopefully they have returned by now.

    Off the patio are several rooms which are opened to the public and it is here more than anywhere else that you get some impression of the actual lives lived at the Alhambra.Two of these, the Sala de Los Abencerrajes and the Sala de las dos Hermanas, I will describe in the next tip.

  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: Comares Palace
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  • Updated By Ekaterinburg on July 4, 2007
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  • Patio de Los Arraynes - Granada
    Patio de Los Arraynes
    by Ekaterinburg, 2 more photos
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    From the Mexuar patio you arrive at the Comares Palace, which was built during the reign of Yusuf 1 and continued by his son, Mohammed V in the 14th century. The ornamentation here is similar to the Mexuar but on a much more elaborate scale. The palace is built around possibly the best-known landmark in the Alhambra, the Myrtle Patio. This patio immediately reminds one of the Taj Mahal, albeit on a far smaller scale, and is indeed very graceful and harmonious. The squat tower of the Comares overshadows it and the northern entrance is shaded by a wonderful gallery with elegant pillars and arches supporting a riot of latticelike, decorative plasterwork. In this patio, the scrum of people was at it's most intense as everybody jostled for space to take a photo of the reflected palace in the courtyard pool. I wasn't as impressed with this patio as I thought I would be. It's much smaller than photographs suggest and the shrubbery is boxy and uninspiring. I preferred the quieter courtyards I glimpsed through windows with orange trees, cypresses and clumps of aromatic greenery, neatly arranged around burbling water.

    The photo shows the northern entrance to the Myrtle Patio with the reflection of the Comares tower and pillars . I tried hard to get a picture without other people in it but short of throwing some of my fellow snappers in the water, this was quite impossible. I've included another photo also, one of a courtyard glimpsed from the Palace of the Lions. I think this illustrates the point of contrast I've drawn between the Myrtle Patio and the smaller enclosed gardens in the palace.

  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: Sala de Las Dos Hermanas
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  • By Ekaterinburg on July 4, 2007
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  • THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES - Granada
    by Ekaterinburg, 1 more photos
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    This room on the northern side of the Lions Patio leads on to another of the Alhambra viewing spots, the Mirador ( Belvedere ) de Daraxa. This little room with a view was frequented by the Sultana in residence and the name translates as 'eyes of the Sultana'. Outside is one of the wonderful courtyards I referred to earlier, a real Arabian Night's dream of a secret garden. Inside the Sala de las Dos Hermanas you can anticipate major neck cricks as you bend backwards to admire the domed ceiling. The honeycomb effect is at its strongest here and there are more than 5000 of the little fragments which make up the stalactite dome. These rooms were the domain of the women who lived out of sight and out of mind except of course when their services were required.

    On the opposite side of the courtyard is another room of great interest, the Sala de Los Abencerrajes. This one had a slightly more grisly function as the room where 16 princes of the household of Abencerraje were executed. This however is not refeflected in the decoration and the ceiling here is the most complex and ornate in the entire Alhambra. Directly underneath the stalactite dome was a fountain which reflected the glory above and into which the heads of the unfortunate princes were reputedly tossed.

    The photos show various angles of the ceilings in these two rooms.

  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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    THE ALHAMBRA: NASRID PALACES: Intricate Moorish Stonework
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  • By easyoar on November 9, 2004
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  • Intricate Moorish Stonework - Granada
    Intricate Moorish
    Stonework
    by easyoar
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    As well as using tiles to decorate their rooms in the Alhambra, the Moors also used highly intricate carved stone, some with geometrical patterns, and some with Koranic verses on. Even the Koranic verses appear to have been carved in such a way as to appear almost geometrical in design, so it can be seen that the Moors loved their decoration, their religion and their living space.

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  • Phone: + 34 958 227 525
  • Directions: advanced booking is advised to prevent crowdings
  • Website: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

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