Alhambra: History, Location, and Architectural Marvels
The Alhambra: A Historical Overview
The Alhambra
Chronology
The most important buildings of the Alhambra date from the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Location
Granada, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Description
The Alhambra is a cluster of buildings forming a citadel, fortress, and palace. The materials used in its construction are simple, but embellished with polychrome plaster.
Inside, there is a succession of courtyards with pools, fountains, or wells. Some rooms have patios, for both private use and for the palace’s private life.
The core of the Alhambra palace area consists of the Comares Room and the Court of the Lions. The Comares Room features lavish decoration. Its name may come from the polychrome crystals (Comari) covering the large windows. It has a large rectangular courtyard, also known as the Pool or the Myrtle Courtyard, which is considered the central part of the palace. The courtyard consists of a large pond, surrounded by hedges of myrtle. Through a doorway, one enters the Ship Room, named for its similarity to the inverted hull of a vessel. This space is topped with the Tower of Comares, decorated with ceramic sockets of varying design, flat painted plasterwork, and wood decks, also decorated with polychrome plaster.
Court of the Lions
The Court of the Lions is structured around a rectangular courtyard. This courtyard has frames on its four sides consisting of slender marble columns supporting shafts of rich canted bows and geometric lattices. On the sides of the rectangle, smaller pavilions come with fountains whose waters converge toward the center, where the fountain with the lions of the eleventh century is located.
On the north side is the Hall of the Two Sisters, which has a square base that becomes octagonal as it rises in height. Its cover is decorated with stalactites, which provides levity to the roof, while the floor is marble, and the walls combine tiles and plasterwork.
Gardens of the Generalife and Partal
An important part of the Alhambra is also the gardens of the Generalife and Partal. The Generalife is separate from the royal palaces, and most of its area is devoted to orchards and gardens. Access is through a modest entrance. It has two courtyards: the Court of the Canal and the Court of the Cypresses. The lush gardens and water that irrigates them are the main attraction of the Generalife. The Partal, meaning “porch” in Arabic, gives access to a small chamber and a viewpoint. In front of the porch of five arches is a pool that provides rest and tranquility, while its waters reflect the building. The wooden ceiling is decorated by craftsmen. Beside the tower is a house where figurative paintings have been discovered.
Commentary
The outdoor complex of the Alhambra is striking, especially the Tower of Comares, defensive in nature, which contrasts with the delicacy with which the interiors were decorated. The presence of water plays an important role in all of the Alhambra, because, apart from cooling the atmosphere, it provides a broader perspective by reflecting the buildings. The complex is completed with the construction of a Renaissance palace built by Pedro Machuca for Emperor Charles V in the sixteenth century.