Today we have booked a private tour organizer to tour Alhambra, the great Moorish palace in Granada, approximately 2 hours from the port in Malaga. We arrive and dock early, thank heavens, because our original meeting time was right after we docked, and we already know what a scrum it is getting off this ship. Fortunately we don’t have to worry about that today, and are exiting the terminal building early enough that the guy with the tour sign is just arriving. Perfect timing! We hoof it over to the buses, find our guide and hop aboard, the 2nd people to arrive. It takes a while to fill the bus up – and since we are all assigned busses, it isn’t first come first serve. But, nonetheless, we finally have a full group and we head off into the rolling Spanish countryside for our 2 hour drive.
It is another spectacular day, and the drive goes by rather quickly as we alternate listening to the guide and just from watching the gorgeous scenery. Once at the palace complex we are broken up into smaller groups and given our little headsets (“whisperers”) so we can hear the palace guide, a lovely lady who is as knowledgeable as she is sweet.
There is far too much information and history about the Alhambra to do it justice here in our blog. And we took far too many pictures (as usual) during our visit. In order not to bore you with all the photos and details – here is the quick summary (and I do mean cliff-notes quick):
Alhambra, which means “red” or “red one” in Arabic, was named after the red clay and rocks used to build the palace. At some point in time it was painted white, which was not the original color, but little by little the red color is being revived and shown around the complex.
The palace and fortress was original built in the late 800’s, then rebuilt as a royal palace in the mid 1300’s. It was further developed in a more Renaissance style in the 1500’s. Thus, there is a mix of Moorish, Arabic and “Italianized” Renaissance architecture throughout the grounds. Granada, being the last place in Spain to have Muslim rulers, has probably more Muslim influence than any other city or town in the country.
The complex is immense – 35 acres in total. There is the typical castle, palace and residential area as well as the citadel, or Alcazaba, built on a hill on the northwest, protecting the complex. Rooms inside the palace all open up onto a central courtyard, and as the palace expanded, new “quadrangles” were simply added on, each following the “paradise on earth” theme with arcades, running water fountains and reflecting pools to add to the beauty and peacefulness of the interior. As with many structures of this age, the exterior was kept plain and unadorned – the red stones and clay – while the inside was ornate. Up on higher ground, above the main palace, lies a terraced and irrigated (initially from rainwater and snow melt) garden that provided fruit and vegetables for the complex. Beyond this garden, outside the fortified walls, a “summer” palace complete with walking gardens and an amphitheater was also built to catch the cooler mountain breezes.
It’s really quite the amazing complex, and it also puts into perspective a lot of design elements we saw at the Alcazar in Seville. We enter through what I think is the Wine Gate (kid you not, it is called Puerto Vino) and enter into the palace built by Carlos V which is truly Renaissance.
Moving quickly into the Muslim and Arabic era, we walk through the more “modern” palace to the Nazrid Palace where our guide explains the decorations in the rooms. The upper parts of the walls contain Arabic inscriptions, typically the family’s motto, while the lower portion of the walls have tiles to keep the rooms cool. Here you’ll see meticulously carved arches and doorways, the fabulously carved wooden ceilings, depicting stars and the universe, the family motto on the wall, along with a section of the wall that has been cleaned – which, for whatever reason, fascinated me.
Doorways/Archways:
Carved ceiling:
Family motto, cleaned walls, tiled half walls:
Outside, we visit the reflecting pond, with an actual reflection of the palace…
…Then on to the patio of lions, with incredible gazebo like structures and carvings that were too intricate for words.
Next we head toward the Alcazaba ( the summer palace) passing through gardens with ponds – where an enterprising cat was trying to catch the huge Koi swimming around the ponds….
Then through the gardens with a view of the Alcazaba above….
….and finally to the Alcazaba itself, walking through the manicured garden-mazes, above the amphitheater and on to the summer home itself with its own reflecting pool.
And that brings us to then end of the Alhambra tour. It is an amazing, immense and incredibly beautiful complex. And we are very glad we decided to tour here with the group – and not on our own. We learned so much – so much that we’ve forgotten already! – and it was nicely timed – not too long, not too deep – just enough to learn, enjoy and see.
Next up – our not guaranteed (but we have enough time) visit to Granada.
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