A VISIT TO THE ALHAMBRA

THE ALHAMBRA

The Alhambra is one of the most important monument that the muslims left in Al-Andalus. Yusuf I ordered to built it and his son, Muhammad V, finished it (XIII - XIV).
The set is formed by the Generalife and the Alhambra. It is divided in three parts: the fortress (Alcazaba), the palaces and the court city

THE FORTRESS (ALCAZABA)

The fortress is on the highest hill of Granada . It was the first building that Yusuf I built, then he followed building the rest of the Alhambra to protect the main building against attacts. The fortress was where the soldiers lived.
It has got 27 towers and the highest is the Torre de la Vela (Tower of the Candle) with four flats.

THE PALACES

The palaces were built in the XIV century and they are divided into several parts:
1- The madraza of the princes was the school-university where philosophy, astronomy and medicine were tought. This madraza was exclusivly for the sultan's family.
2- The subjects went to the Mexuar room to be administered justice. At the bottom of the room there is a chapel positioned to the Meca. When the christians conquered the Alhambra, they used it like a little christian chapel.
3- The Arrayanes yard was a part of the palace of Comares, where the king has got his private livingroom.The water of the yard was for cooling the atmosphere in summer.
4- The inhabitants of the palace's private livings were in the Lions yard, where they could rest out their duties.

THE COURT CITY

The court city is between the palaces and the Generalife. Only the sultan's family and the craftsmen lived in it.

THE GENERALIFE

The Generalife is by the Alhambra but out its walls. It is a place of orchards and gardens. They were for the feeding and rest of the royal family. The Alhambra is a very nice muslim monument located in Granada. It is very special. It's a walled town that has got gardens, palaces and a fortress.
Alhambra means red. It is called so because of its reddish colour. It is more than six hundred years old.
Muslims built it to defend against Middle Age wars. It is situated on a hill opposite Albaycin hill. Between these two hills flows Darro river.
It has got several parts:
1- The fortress, that is the militar part. It is built with stone, sorrounded by walls and behind it, a moat.The walls have got 27 watch towers. The highest is the Tower of the Candle (Torre de la Vela) that has got four flats and we go in by the second one. The fourth is a very big balcony flat roof from where we can see all Granada. In this tower there is a bell and a legend tells us that the girl who strikes it the second of January gets married in this year.
There are two silos for food and a cistern for water.

2- The king and his family lived in the palaces.The palaces are decorated with tiles, arcs, "mocárabes", stained-glass windows, carved wood, marble,...
There are courtyards with fountains and gardens inside.
Muslim religion forbides to depict persons or animals. So the walls of the palaces are decorated with vegetable or geometric motives and with versicles of Coram as: "Only God is victorious".
There is an exception: the fountain of the lions, in the courtyard of the lions.
They are twelve lions around one fountain that can symbolize the hours of the clock or maybe the sultan's guard. Each hour one lion give water by its mouth.
There are spaces in the wall at the entrances of the rooms. They were to put a vessel with aromatic substance in to perfume the atmosphere.
It is kept a piece of the original floor in the golden room.
Ceilings are lovely. It seems that they are embroidered.
The Door of Justice is an entrance for the Alhambra. It is a wooden door reinforced with iron. Above we can see a key that means "power" or "force" and a hand that shows us the muslims' five commandaments.
The Door of Wine is inside. It was closed in the night to keep the place safe.
3- The Generalife is a place of orchards and gardens where the royal family collected fruits and rest.
In the Generalife there are fountains and ponds with fishes and flowers.
The water falls into the ponds in jets that cross themselves.
I was impressed that a lot of water is spent but I realized that there is a lot of water in Granada because the mountains in winter are always covered with snow.
Water was used in several ways: practical (for cooling and watering), aesthetics and religious. In that time it was a symbol of economical and political power.
The Alhambra is built with poor materials, beautied with carved wood, "mocárabes", tiles, arcs, yards, baths and gardens.
All of these give us an idea about the beauty and the muslims's good-living who built it.
It is a lovely thing for me. When you see it you can be moved because of its beauty.

Pupils of 5th and 6th
May 2.000