Granada- The Alhambra- Saturday, November 27th

Saturday was dedicated to the Alhambra. The space was originally a Muslim palace complex, a city all in itself, built at the top of city in the 14th century. When Granada was overtaken by Ferdinand and Isabel at the end of the 15th century, the Islamic space was converted into a Christian one, but it was kept and maintained as a testament to its beauty. It fell into disrepair in the 18th century but its magic was revived, oddly enough, by Washington Irving, who lived in the palace complex and wrote stories about its rooms and gardens. Now, the Alhambra is one of the "must-see" and most-visited sites in Spain. Its decoration is exceedingly beautiful and ornate and it is famous for its poetic inscriptions that speak, in first person, about the buildings.

The Alhambra was truly amazing to see. My pictures don't come anywhere near to doing the space justice. The day was rainy (as all of our traveling days have been, or so it seems!) but it was still breathtaking. We had a lovely tour guide, Carmen, who became my fast friend (this was beneficial because I could ask her all the questions I wanted!), and told us all about the history of each building. After seeing the Alhambra, we walked along the roads, through the gates and gardens, and up to the palace the Carlos V built. The morning at the Alhambra was so, so wonderful.


Here is a picture of the tops of the pillars- so much detail!



Entrance to the Alhambra- one of the doors leads to the Hall of the Ambassadors but the other is a trapdoor of sorts. When the palace was in use, unwanted visitors would be taken (and executed) through the door on the right.

Ceiling in one of the rooms of the Alhambra- wood and painted tiles.

Hall of the Ambassadors- it is the large space off of the Court of the Myrtles where the ruler would greet important visitors.

Picture of the repeated carving that covers the Hall of the Ambassadors. It's proclaiming the power of Allah- Carmen showed us the inscription for Allah- it's the one farthest to the left, she showed us by putting her three fingers on top of the "W" shaped letter.  

One of the windows in the Hall of the Ambassadors. You can see the carving well in the upper right-hand side of this one!

There are multiple closet-type rooms off of the Court of the Myrtles. No one really knows what their purpose was but no matter how small they are, the are incredibly ornate.

Ceiling- one of the amazing examples of mathematics in the Alhambra! Each piece of the ceiling was carved and brought, piece by piece, into the room to be put together. It has an almost stalagtite type look- amazing detail.  

Court of the Lions- unfortunately, the fountain in the center surrounded by twelve carved lions is being restored so we weren't able to see the courtyard in its full glory

Pillars in the Court of the Lions- I can't remember how many pillars there are in the entire courtyard but its a beautiful sight, they're all slender and made perfectly the same

Ceiling in the Hall of the Two Sisters- there are seven layers to represent the seven heavens in Islam 

Hall of the Two Sisters- named for one of the stories that Washington Irving wrote about the Alhambra of two Muslim princes pining away for Chistian knights

View from a hallway window into a courtyard

View from the Alhambra's rooms, looking down over the city and across to the mountains

Part of the garden complex outside of the Alhambra

Courtyard in the palace of Carlos V

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Definitely look the Alhambra up online- there is so much more to say about it that I didn't cover and you would get to see some even better pictures!