The Amazing Alhambra

We started our day by walking up, up, up the hill to the Alhambra in the cool early morning light. The Alhambra was once a self contained Muslim city, separate from Granada below. As a royal city and citadel, it contained at least six major palaces as well as the military fortress of the Alcazaba, with a sophisticated water supply system throughout. The Generalife gardens adjacent were a former country estate and summer palace.

The Nasrid palaces were typically built around a central courtyard, usually with a water feature such as a fountain or reflective pool. Decoration was focused mainly on the inside of the buildings, usually with tile mosaics on the lower part of walls, and highly decorative carved stucco of geometric patterns, vegetal motifs and Arabic inscriptions on the upper walls and ceilings. Windows were strategically placed to give views of nature and the gardens.

The Alhambra complex was begun in 1238 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of Spain's major tourist attractions. We were glad we visited early in the day, because like Granada itself, as the day wore on, the crowds increased. I can't imagine how busy it must be here in the summer, the streets of the old town of Granada are always crowded by lunchtime even in this winter season.

In the last photo, taken from the very top of the Alcazaba, you can see snow on the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.