Alhambra, Granada

The Alhambra is a palace city Andalusian located in Granada, Spain. Formed by a group of palaces, gardens and fort that housed a real city within the city of Granada, which served as shelter to the monarch and the court of the Kingdom of Granada. Its real appeal, as in other Muslim works of the period, lies not only in the interiors, whose decoration is among the peaks of Andalusian art, but also in their localization and adaptation, creating a new landscape but fully integrated with the existing nature

The Alhambra stands on the Sabika hill, one of the highest points of the city of Granada. This site was seeking a strategic defensive position and simultaneously convey a clear symbol, where the summit of power is very noticeable to the rest of the city, chosen to be contemplado.3 The occupation of this hill location dates back to Roman times. 899 of the first written references date from a military site in the area. A mid-eleventh century, becoming Granada capital of the kingdom of Taifa, under the ziríes Dynasty, buildings were extended.


The Alhambra became a royal residence from 1238, with the coming to power of Muhammad ibn Nasr, first monarch of the Kingdom of Granada, for which created a water supply itself. The most luxurious buildings in the palaces that are preserved today, the Palace of Comares and Lions, comes from the fourteenth century. The assembly has an elongated and irregular shape adapted to the shape of the hill on which it stands. Length of 740 m. and its width varies between 180 and 40 meters.

Fourth Emperor [edit]
Built for King Carlos dwell here while in Granada, on their wedding trip. In the next room to this there is a marble plaque in memory of the writer Washington Irving who resided in this part of the enclosure, while writing his Tales of the Alhambra in 1829.

The comber Queen [edit]
Arab tower called Abul-Hachach, used by the sultan for recreation and meditation. After the Christian conquest was renovated. The top floor could serve as a real toilet and could have been used by Queen Elizabeth Farnese. Its structure has Roman influences by the presence of the arcaded gallery gazebo and decoration pictórica.3