The Generalife is an estate that was constructed by the Nasrids to serve as an escape for the sultan and his family from the affairs of state. It was mainly constructed in the 14th Century, and consists of a summer palace, surrounded by extensive gardens. It was built across a ravine from the Alhambra, on a hill known as the Hill of the Sun. It was distant enough from the Alhambra to allow for relaxation and leisure pursuits, but close enough that the sultan could quickly cross over in case of urgent matters needing his attention. At one time there was a covered walkway connecting the Generalife palace and the Alhambra, but this has been gone for centuries.

This means that visitors (like us) who wish to visit both palaces have to go the long way around. This involves following a pathway through the Alhambra grounds that follows the edge of the ravine. The pathway is nicely landscaped and populated with non-threatening wildlife. There are also towers along the path that were built to repel invaders. The towers all have names, and some have acquired legends of their own.



At the head of the ravine there is a small stone bridge that crosses what's left of the ravine and brings the visitor onto the grounds of the Generalife. But before reaching the anticipated gardens, one encounters a big mood-breaker, in the form of a large, modern-looking amphitheater. As it turns out, the amphitheater is modern, having been inaugurated (originally for ballet performances) in 1954 for use in the annual Festival of Music and Dance of Granada.

The first gardens are encountered just past the amphitheater. These are called the Lower Gardens (probably because they aren't as high as the Upper Gardens), and they mostly consist of long pools with occasional fountains, surrounded by hedges, cypress trees and a variety of flowering plants. These gardens were only installed in 1931, on land that had long been neglected, and it is not known whether they bear any resemblance to the gardens that had occupied the area in medieval times. One would have to think probably not, as even though they were done in a "Muslim style", this was not based on any reliable representation of their original configuration. But whether authentic or not, the gardens are undeniably pleasant.



One thing that has remained authentic is the terracing of the hillside, which has survived pretty much intact. The hillside was originally covered with orchards and vegetable gardens. It remains covered with plants, but again the types of plants may not match the originals. One thing that can still be enjoyed from the garden is a fine view of the Alhambra, and of Granada's Albaicín area beyond.


Eventually the path through the lower gardens reaches the palace, where it enters a small courtyard called the Dismounting Yard (where visitors would leave their horses) before entering the palace by way of another small courtyard.

Passing through a small section of palace brings a visitor into the Water Garden Courtyard, which is the focal point of the palace. It is also probably the most authentic part, as it was constructed in 1958 based on the courtyard's original design, which had been discovered at the time. It consists of a long pool with overarching fountains (probably more than there'd been in the original design) and many surrounding plants, with a North Pavilion at one end and a South Pavilion (the part of the palace we'd entered through) at the other.


There is also a long arcade parallel to the pool. It is thought that there was originally a wall enclosing this side of the courtyard, to provide an enclosed intimacy that the Moors seemed to prefer in their courtyards. There was a windowed enclosure called a mirador halfway down this wall whose windows supplied the only point in the courtyard from which the Alhambra could be observed. Shortly after the Moors' departure, the wall was removed and the open arcade was added on either side of the mirador – apparently the inheriting Christians didn't value intimacy as much as they liked a great view.

Walking the length of the courtyard took us into the North Pavilion. The stucco was impressive.

Walking the length of the North Pavilion took us to another courtyard, called the Cypress Courtyard. The Cypress Courtyard is a small, more square-shaped courtyard with a U-shaped pool, a central fountain, and many beautiful plants. It follows the Muslim ideal of intimacy more closely than the present Water Garden Courtyard, being surrounded by walls on three sides and by a rising staircase on the fourth. However, it almost certainly doesn't look like it did in the Moorish days – an account from the time describes it as being meadowlike, and makes no mention of any pool. But again, inauthenticity doesn't necessarily make it any less pleasant.



There is a legend connected with the Cypress Courtyard, a legend already alluded to in the Alhambra page. This is the legend of the Abencerrages family, the family that met an untimely end when they were butchered in what is now called the Hall of the Abencerrages. According to the legend, the reason the family had fallen into such disfavor with the sultan was because one of its members had been found to be having a romantic liaison with the sultana. One version has the sultana and her paramour arranging trysts in the Cypress Courtyard. For this reason the courtyard is sometimes called the Sultana's Courtyard. By the way, there is no evidence to support any of this carrying-on, and it's generally considered to be fiction. But it's too good a story to ignore.

We exited the courtyard by climbing the stairway. At the top there was an overlook which gave us a different angle on the courtyard.

From the area above the Cypress Courtyard, a stairway ascends farther up the hill. This is called the Water Stairway, as the water stream used to feed the courtyards below is incorporated into the stairway's handrail. This is an original Moorish feature.

The Water Stairway took us up into an area of more gardens, called (as you may have guessed) the Upper Gardens. These gardens would have to be considered more European in style than Moorish.


Walking through the Upper Gardens eventually took us back past the amphitheater and out of the Generalife grounds. We planned on exiting the Alhambra complex the way we'd come in, through the Justice Gate, and we headed back that way, through the Alhambra grounds. The path took us through a cypress-lined stretch called the Cypress Walk, and past the excavated foundations of a large building. This building was at one time another palace, called the Palace of the Abencerrages, built in the 13th-14th Century. Apparently the palace had survived both the Nasrids and the Reconquista, but it did not survive the occupying soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte, who blew it up early in the 19th Century.

Before exiting the grounds, we passed by the Palace of Charles V and went over to get a closer look. The palace was built in the 16th Century at the direction of King/Emperor Charles to provide a palace that catered better to Christian sensibilities and administrative needs. It was mostly built over an old Christian quarter, and did not involve the wholesale destruction of Moorish palaces, which Charles was actually interested in preserving. The palace was built in the then-popular Renaissance style, with accents like gigantic iron rings and commemorative reliefs. The building is huge and square, with a circular courtyard. We entered the courtyard long enough to take some pictures and then departed.



Exiting through the Justice Gate, we walked back down the hill to the city. We found some lunch, did some shopping and rested up a bit.

Later in the afternoon, we stirred ourselves enough to get out and do some more exploring. We decided to visit the neighborhood across from the Alhambra, a neighborhood called the Albaicín.