We started the following day by visiting the Alhambra. Followers of this site will be aware that we'd done this before, with two pages devoted to it here and here. I'll try not to repeat too much of what appeared in those pages, but will review a few points for the benefit of new visitors. First, the palace/fortification complex known as the Alhambra was built in the 13th and 14th Centuries by rulers from the Moorish Nasrid dynasty, who controlled Granada at the time. By the 15th Century, Granada was the last remaining Moorish emirate on the Iberian Peninsula, all of the others having fallen to Christian armies in the course of a multi-century campaign known as the Reconquista. Granada maintained an uneasy coexistence with the surrounding Christian kingdoms for several decades, but this all came to an end early in 1492, when Granada was surrendered to the overwhelming Christian forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The Moorish sultan, known as Boabdil, was allowed to depart peaceably, along with his family and immediate followers, leaving the Alhambra intact for the enjoyment of the Catholic Monarchs, and eventually of swarms of tourists armored in Polo shirts and wielding smartphones and digital SLRs.

The adventures of Ferdinand and Isabella have been discussed at some length elsewhere, but a few more words about Boabdil may be in order. The name "Boabdil" was not a real name, but an attempt by Spaniards to turn the real name, something more like Abu Abdullah, into something they could pronounce. Boabdil, who was born in the Alhambra around 1460, became sultan in 1482 by ousting his father, Abu I-Hasan Ali, from the throne. At this time he took the name Muhammad XII, and attempted to gain prestige and cement his role as ruler by going off to fight the Christians (his father had already initiated some ill-advised hostilities). This didn't work out according to plan, as he was promptly captured by the Christians at Lucena in 1483. Abu I-Hasan Ali resumed the throne briefly before abdicating in favor of his brother, Sa'd al-Zaghal, in 1485, and dying in the same year. Sa'd al-Zaghal took the name Muhammad XIII, but XIII would not be a lucky number for him, as Boabdil returned, with Christian support, in 1487. Boabdil had promised that he would hold Granada as a tributary kingdom under Ferdinand and Isabella, and that he would not interfere with their military activities. At the time of Boabdil's return, his uncle Sa'd al-Zaghal had been away, unsuccessfully attempting to relieve a siege at Málaga, and found that he no longer had a throne when he tried to return to Granada's capital city. In the meantime, the Christians successfully concluded their siege and went on to methodically capture the remaining Moorish strongholds, until only the capital city remained in Moorish hands. In 1491, Boabdil was summoned by Ferdinand and Isabella to discuss the official surrender of the city, which was by then a foregone conclusion.

On leaving Granada, Boabdil and his followers travelled to an estate they had received in the settlement, located in a mountainous area called Las Alpujarras, but they didn't stay there long. Staying in a land that was no longer theirs must have been a painful situation, and Boabdil sent a request for refuge to the sultan of Morocco, a request that was granted. Boabdil and retinue crossed the Mediterranean to the city of Fes, Morocco, and spent the rest of their days there. Boabdil eventually died in 1533.

In the absence of the Moors, the Alhambra underwent periods of remodeling, abuse, neglect and restoration. Fortunately for us, the most recent period seems to have been one of restoration (with maybe a little tourist abuse). Early in the morning, we set out to take stock of the progress.

As alluded to earlier, the Alhambra is on top of a hill. On our previous visit, we'd ridden the minibus to the top, getting off at the ticket office. As this time we'd ordered and printed our own tickets, we didn't need to go all the way to the ticket office, but could instead use the Justice Tower entrance, which is much closer to the Nasrid palaces. And to our hotel as it turned out. We decided to try walking, and the trail, while on the steep side, ended up being pleasant and pretty short. Along the way we passed a statue of Washington Irving, the American author whose 1832 book, Tales of the Alhambra, generated worldwide interest in the complex and led to a period of significant and much-needed restoration.

Outside the Justice Gate entrance we found the Charles V Fountain, which had been added in 1543, during the reign of king/emperor Charles.

With our walk having been shorter than expected, we arrived about a half hour earlier than our appointment for the Nasrid palaces, so we looked around the Alcazaba area first. The Alcazaba, to review, was the principal defensive fortification for the Alhambra. This being the case, it was situated to have a good view of its surroundings. We entered the Alcazaba area by passing through the Wine Gate.


While the Alcazaba looked pretty much unchanged from our previous visit, we found that its Watch Tower appeared to be closed to visitors. The Watch Tower is probably the spot from which the best view can be had – there is a large bell which guards once used to raise the alarm when invaders were detected. But even though we couldn't climb the tower, we found a nearby spot from which we could still get a pretty good view of Granada, including its cathedral.

We returned toward the Nasrid palace entrance area by walking through a garden along the Alcazaba's south wall. We were still a few minutes early, so we paused to get our bearings.

At the appointed time, we joined the gathered group who had tickets with the same appointed time and were admitted to the first of the Nasrid palaces, the Mexuar Palace. This palace is thought to have been used as a council chamber and court of justice.

Exiting the Mexuar Palace put us in a small courtyard, called the Courtyard of the Mexuar. At one end of this courtyard was a room called the Golden Chamber, thought to be used by Moorish officials and secretaries and as a waiting room, and at the other was the entrance to the next palace, the Comares Palace.


The Comares Palace surrounds a large courtyard, called the Courtyard of the Myrtles. The courtyard holds a large reflective pool (which also supplies some cooling, through evaporation), and is bookended by a South Gallery (which held a small and not-too-interesting exhibit), at the south end, and the Comares Tower, at the north end.


Inside the Comares Tower is the largest room in the Alhambra, the Hall of the Ambassadors. This room is thoroughly decorated, and served as the throne room for the Moorish sultans (and probably the Christian Monarchs as well).



Exiting the Courtyard of the Myrtles through a side doorway propelled us into another courtyard, called the Courtyard of the Lions. This courtyard is named for a circular fountain in its center, which is surrounded by twelve marble lions, each spewing a stream of water outward. On our previous visit to the Alhambra, we did not see this fountain, as it was undergoing renovation and was hidden from view. But on this visit it was on full display, looking shiny and new. This fountain is well known, and is much copied (but never equaled!).


The courtyard is surrounded by galleries and porticoes, with small fountains of their own, which drain through open channels in the courtyard floor into the base of the lion fountain. The galleries and porticoes are supported by thin marble columns (apparently there are 124 of them), and there are elaborate tile and stucco decorations everywhere.



There are a number of rooms and hallways surrounding the courtyard. One is called the Hall of the Kings. This area was used for relaxation, and is made up of three main spaces, with a number of alcoves. The decorations use a stalactite motif.


Another area is called the Hall of the Abencerrages. According to legend, this was the name of a family that was out of favor with the sultan (the father of Boabdil, to be precise). One day the family was invited to a banquet in this room, and were surprised by being massacred at the order of the sultan. In case you were wondering where the Game of Thrones people get some of their ideas…



The route from the Palace of the Lions led us through some less interesting areas (mostly shown in our previous Alhambra pages), and eventually to an exit, our palace tour ended. But there were still some nice gardens to be enjoyed, and some towers, which continued at intervals along the entire hillside.



Following the path through the gardens took us in the general direction of the ticket office, in which we had no interest. However, shortly before the ticket office there was a path to the left, leading to a smaller palace/garden complex (included in the price of admission) called the Generalife. This was our next destination.