After a short wait at the gathering spot, someone came and got us, and we were escorted to the entry of the first of the Nasrid palaces, the Mexuar Palace. The Mexuar Palace is believed to have housed the royal court of justice for the Nasrids. It was substantially altered by the Christian monarchs to hold a chapel. The palace’s oratory suffered significant damage from a gunpowder explosion in 1590 and was not fully restored until 1917.

Bob and Entry to Hall of the Mexuar Med   Lrg	Detail Above Entry Med   Lrg   Xlg
Crown Above Entry, Interior Med   Lrg   Xlg	Crown, Wall and Column MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD

The Mexuar courtyard is surrounded on one side by a room called the Golden Chamber and on the other by what is called the façade to the next palace, the Comares Palace.

Arch and Façade of Comares Palace MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Comares Façade, Bob and Courtyard MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD
Nella and Golden Chamber Portico Med   Lrg   Xlg	Nella on Portico MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD
Arch, Golden Chamber Med   Lrg   Xlg	Portico Column, Golden Chamber Med   Lrg   Xlg
Nella Inside Golden Chamber MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Ceiling, Golden Chamber Med   Lrg

The Comares Palace surrounds a large courtyard with a long, rectangular reflective pool, called the Courtyard of the Myrtles.

Archway, Comares Palace Med   Lrg   Xlg	Niche, Comares Palace Med   Lrg   Xlg
Courtyard of the Myrtles with South Gallery Med   Lrg   Xlg	Tile and Decoration, South Gallery Med   Lrg   Xlg
Courtyard of the Myrtles with Comares Tower Med   Lrg   Xlg	Courtyard of the Myrtles with Comares Tower MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD

At one end of the courtyard is a room called the Hall of the Ambassadors, used as the throne room, and a sort of antechamber called the Hall of the Boat. As in the rest of the palaces, the decorations are in the mudejar style rather than a pure Arabic style, partly because of the isolation of Al-Andalus from the rest of the Muslim world since the declaration of the Caliphate and partly because of interactions with Europeans representing different architectural influences. The decorations are characterized by painted tiles and densely detailed inscriptions of calligraphy (usually Koranic verses), foliage-inspired patterns (known as arabesques) or geometric patterns. An Islamic principle known as aniconism, practiced to greater and lesser extents by different Muslims, forbids the depiction of humans or other sentient creatures.

Portico, Hall of the Boat Med   Lrg   Xlg	Nella with Hall of the Ambassadors MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD
Hall of the Ambassadors Med   Lrg	Hall of the Ambassadors MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD
Hall of the Ambassadors Med   Lrg   Xlg	Niche, Hall of the Ambassadors Med   Lrg   Xlg

A small door on the side of the courtyard led to the next palace, the Palace of the Lions. The Palace of the Lions is named after the fountain at the center of its courtyard, which is surrounded by twelve stylized lions which spew water from their mouths. We’d love to show you a picture of it, but it was under restoration during our visit and hidden from view. But there was plenty to see anyway. The courtyard is surrounded by columns, with small projecting pavilions at the east and west ends.

Nella and Courtyard of the Lions MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Courtyard of the Lions Med   Lrg   Xlg
Courtyard of the Lions Med   Lrg   Xlg	Courtyard of the Lions Med   Lrg   Xlg
Courtyard of the Lions Med   Lrg   Xlg	Courtyard of the Lions MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD

Ceilings and archways in the palace itself show examples of a feature known as mocarábes. It is said that Mohammed received inspiration for the Koran in a cave in which he was hiding from pursuing enemies. Mocarábes are combinations of a great number of small, simply-shaped stucco elements to produce a resemblance to the ceiling of such a cave, including stalactites.

Hall of the Abencerrages MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Ceiling, Hall of the Abencerrages Med   Lrg   Xlg
Alcove, Hall of the Abencerrages Med   Lrg   Xlg	Hall of the Abencerrages Med   Lrg
Hall of the Two Sisters MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Arch, Hall of the Two Sisters Med   Lrg

From the Palace of the Lions we passed through a courtyard called the Courtyard of Linderaja and an arcade with a nice view of the Albaicín neighborhood across the ravine to the north, and found ourselves exited from the palaces.

Courtyard of Lindaraja Med   Lrg   Xlg

Fountain, Courtyard of Lindaraja Med   Lrg   Xlg

We continued eastward an found another structure, called the Tower of the Ladies, which seems to be a sheltered viewpoint with a large pool in front of it.

View from Tower of the Ladies Med   Lrg	Tower of the Ladies Med   Lrg   Xlg
Bob and Pool, Tower of the Ladies Med   Lrg	View of Wall Med   Lrg   Xlg

From here we walked along the outer wall a little more and eventually backtracked through the gardens, starting on a search for lunch. This search proved to be unsuccessful – there is surprisingly little real food (as opposed to snack food) to be had in the Alhambra complex. We found a cafeteria, but they were closing when we got there, so we decided to find food in town on our way out. We’d last eaten in Seville several hours earlier, so our stomachs were growling. Nevertheless, we stopped for a quick look at the Palace of Charles V, the square 16th Century stone behemoth south of the Nasrid palaces which turned out to have a big circular courtyard. And a quick look was all that was really necessary – while impressive, the palace looked pretty much the same from all angles, though we did go upstairs to check out that vantage point.

Courtyard from Lower Level Med   Lrg   Xlg	Lower Colonnade Med   Lrg   Xlg
Palace from Lower Level MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Courtyard from Upper Level Med   Lrg   Xlg

We discovered a museum housed in the palace, with admission included in the Alhambra ticket price, so we quickly made our way through it, with nothing really grabbing our attention. This may have been more a reflection of our state of starvation than the museum itself, but I don’t really remember much about it so I couldn’t say for sure.

We exited the grounds through the Justice Gate, just south of the Charles V Palace, and found a bus stop across from the gate. We had some time, so we took pictures of the Charles V Fountain (1543) next to the gate while we were waiting.

We got off the bus in the Plaza Isabel la Católica and walked uphill in search of a restaurant, successfully finding one on the left side of the street. We were the only customers, the hour being on the weird side, but we were grateful to finally be able to feed ourselves.

Fountain, Plaza Isabel la Católica Med   Lrg   Xlg

Cathedral Med   Lrg   Xlg

After lunch we didn’t have too much time before the departure of our train back to Seville, so we just got on a bus and headed back to the station.

Granada and Mountains from Station MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD

Cathedral from Station Med   Lrg   Xlg

Our return to Seville took a little less time than our trip out, but still exceeded three hours.

Spanish Countryside Med   Lrg   Xlg

Rock Formation Med   Lrg   Xlg

We figured out how to get a bus back to somewhere near our hotel from the station and went looking for dinner, which turned out to be a small, so-so meal consisting of greasy tapas. Worn out, we returned to the hotel and collapsed.