Enchanting Alhambra Palace: Crown Jewel of Moorish Spain

“Perhaps there never was a monument more characteristic of an age and people than the Alhambra; a rugged fortress without, a voluptuous palace within; war frowning from its battlements; poetry breathing through the fairy architecture of its halls.”

~Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra

The sun was glistening over thick groves of olive trees as we traveled from the port city of Málaga through green and golden hills toward Granada. The harvest season was now approaching, our guide Marta was explaining, briefly changing the topic from where we were headed to the immediate views out our windows. But in an instant, she was back to spinning stories of the Alhambra, Moorish castle extraordinaire that hovers over Granada like a dreamy fairytale land.

A Little Alhambra History

One of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture as well as one of the best-preserved palaces in the world, the Alhambra dates to the 9th century, when it served as a military fortress for the Nasrids, the last Muslim rulers in Spain. Four hundred years later, the first king of the Moorish Nasrid Dynasty established the royal residence behind its walls, beginning the Alhambra’s most glorious period as a self-contained city.

The Moors lost power in 1492, when the Christians conquered Spain, and the Alhambra became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Isabella ordered palaces to be converted for the new royal family, but not to be torn down, wisely recognizing the Alhambra’s beauty and importance.

In 1526, Charles V commissioned a new Renaissance-style palace, but it was left uncompleted in the early 17th century, falling into disrepair. It wasn’t until the 1800s when European travelers discovered the Alhambra, and in 1823 Spain declared the palace a national monument and began restoration.

Generalife Gardens and Palace

We began our walk in the Generalife Gardens (pronounced hen-eh-raw-LEEF-ay), Arabic for “garden of the architect.” The gardens and adjacent palace served as the summer residence for the sultans of the Alhambra. Lined with stately cypress trees, peaceful water features and vine-covered archways, the gardens evoke a sense of calm and order.

Over the centuries, the gardens were modified and expanded and today are considered the largest gardens in Europe.

The Nasrid Palaces

The Generalife Palace, beautiful in its own right, turned out to be a warm-up for what we were about to experience. An opening act that teased its audience as if to say, “You think this is something…just wait!” We followed Marta to the Nasrid Palaces entrance, showed our passports to the ticket agent, and walked inside to a collective sigh of wonder.

The three main Nasrid Palaces – Mexaur, Comares Palace and Palace of the Lions – are known as Casa Real Vieja, or Old Royal Palace. Every inch of every room is filled with spectacular architectural decoration. Mosaic tiles line floors and lower walls. Upper walls are a labyrinth of muqarnas, a honeycomb-like ornamental vaulting decoration. Arabic writings dance across columns, carved ivory and white stucco walls. Ornately detailed wooden ceilings soar above the room like stars in the sky.

I tried to keep each palace’s specific features separate in my mind as well as in the photos I seemed to be taking at lightning speed, but the truth is, it didn’t really matter. The Alhambra is so overpowering in its beauty and architectural detail that it all flows together as if it were laid out in some grand master plan.

The Mathematical Alhambra

One of the most intriguing features of the Alhambra is its connection to mathematical calculations. The starlike patterns imbedded in ceilings and the repetitive geometric shapes of tiles along the walls are not a haphazard occurrence. The Alhambra’s tiles contain nearly all of the mathematically possible wallpaper groups, a classification of a two-dimensional repetitive pattern based on symmetries in the pattern. An area’s entire surface is covered with geometric shapes that contain no gaps or overlapping tiles, creating a tessellation.

Washington Irving Slept Here

Not all of the Alhambra is over-the-top opulent. The rooms built after Isabella and Ferdinand took over Spanish rule are much simpler and less ornate. It was a surprise after being immersed in the grand Moorish architecture.

American short-story writer Washington Irving lived in an apartment in this part of the Alhambra in 1829. As the story is told, he visited the Alhambra in 1828 and was so inspired by his experience that he returned the following year for a three-month stay. The apartment where he lived and wrote Tales of the Alhambra is featured in the palace tour, with a commemorative plaque denoting his time there.

Palace of Charles V and the Partal Palace

Palaces, or at least remnants of them, seem to be lurking everywhere around the Alhambra. Before leaving the complex, we added two more to our already overflowing list of places visited at the Alhambra.

The uncompleted Palace of Charles V looks more like it belongs in ancient Rome than in the land of the ancient Moors. Commissioned by Charles V in 1527 and designed by an Italian architect, it was never finished, abandoned as the site of a future monarch’s home in 1637.

The Partal Palace, built between 1302 and 1309, is the oldest remaining palace in the Alhambra. A neighbor of the Nasrid Palaces, it was the first of several that were built along the Alhambra’s northern perimeter. But unlike its neighbors, Partal Palace became privately owned after the 1492 conquest and wasn’t ceded back to the Spanish government until 1861.

After the Alhambra

It was mid-afternoon when we left the glittering grandeur of the Alhambra. Our group headed to a nearby restaurant in Granada for a late lunch before the hour-and-a-half drive back to Málaga.

My head was spinning with images of everything I’d seen. It was as if the muqarnas and the marble and the tessellations were swirling about the doors and windows of my mind, telling me not to forget this place. You will never see anything like this again, they seemed to be saying.

Sometimes it’s the small places, the unexpected experiences that hit our hearts when we travel. But other times, it’s these famous larger-than-life spots on the globe that surprise us. They strike a chord of awe in the deepest part of us, a wonder of the past opening its doors for a brief moment into the present.

I had the feeling that when it comes to palaces of old, there’s the Alhambra…and there’s everywhere else.