Granada, and the Incomparable Alhambra

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We went back to Granada for a third time. There’s something about the city’s history, buildings, and of course the Alhambra, that keeps drawing us back.

 

An ancient bridge near the main plaza of Granada

On this trip we were accompanied by our friends, Sue and Allan, who were visiting from Portland, OR, which gave us the opportunity to play tour guide. The big draw in Granada is the Alhambra, the fabulous palace built for Yousf I, the Sultan of Granada, in the 14^th century. It is the biggest attraction in Spain, and with good reason! We were thrilled to have an opportunity to visit it yet again.

This time we stayed in the city center, in a nice modern apartment. It was within walking distance of pretty much everything. Our main desire, though, was to see the Alhambra. Sue had gotten tickets well in advance (a necessity, even in the winter low season), and we devoted an entire day to our visit.

The day before our visit  we prepared by making the long climb to the Albaicín, a very old neighborhood now quite popular with locals and tourists alike. As sunset approaches, the Plaza de San Nicolas, with its magnificent views of the Alhambra right across the ravine, fills with sightseers, photographers, venders, buskers, and the idly curious. It’s quite the scene!

 

Scene at Plaza de San Nicolas as sunset approaches

And the Alhambra just after dark

The Albaicin seen from the Alhambra. Plaza de San Nicolas is at the base of the white church in the upper center.

This neighborhood is where Paula and I had stayed during our visit two years ago. We'd dined at a fine restaurant just below the Plaza. We found it again, and watched the sun set against the walls of the Alhambra as we sipped our drinks and commented on the views. Afterwards we strolled through the ancient neighborhood, admiring the stone walls and narrow, cobbled lanes, and stumbled on another memory from our past visit: a bar on the central plaza offering a truly impressive tapas buffet. What a selection! We were ready for dinner, and so double glad to revisit this memorable experience, and share it with our friends.

 

Quite a spread! The only tapas buffet we've seen.

The next day we were up early and into a taxi for the climb up the steep hill to the Alhambra. We entered through the Puerta de la Justicia, or Justice Gate (it took a while before the taxi driver could understand our poor Spanish, so once under way spent the entire 10-minute drive practicing our pronunciation of Puerta de la Justicia – just don’t ask me how to say it now!) The gate is a magnificent structure, and a fitting entrance to the Alhambra. We were a bit early for our scheduled entry at 9 AM, so we stood in line in the bright but cold sunshine and looked across the ravine at the densely packed houses of the Albaicin.

The impressive Puerta de las Justicia. We entered through the small door on the right.

Allan looks back at the entry from inside the Alhambra.

Paula, Sue, and Allan near the Palace of Charles V

The Alhambra has a long history. Starting as a Roman fortress, it was expanded into a royal palace for the Moorish sultan in 1333, and then continuously added to over the centuries by the Moors and, later, the Spanish. Under the Moors the underlying theme of the palace was "paradise on earth,” represented architecturally using column arcades, fountains, reflecting pools, and gardens. The interior is lavishly decorated – endlessly decorated – with exquisitely carved plaster, magnificent wood work, and intricately laid tile. (We saw very similar decoration throughout Morocco, and in fact in Fez were privileged to watch artisans crafting modern works very similar to those found in the Alhambra). 

Patio de comares, the Court of the Myrtles

The Lion Fountain, with its 12 lion statues; in the Court of the Lions

Even on our third visit, the magnificence of the palace was in no way diminished. There’s a mathematical precision to the proportions that lends a relaxed harmony to the palace, enhanced by the pools and refreshing sounds of flowing water. Plus there’s the nearly mind-numbing complexity of the tile work and plaster, carved wood and painted goat-skin ceilings. It’s certainly one of our favorite places!

Plaster "stalactites" in the ceiling commemorate a story of Mohammed spending a night in a cave escaping enemies. 

Fountain in the Court of the Lindaraja

Fountain in the Generalife Garden

Circular interior of  Palace of Charles V

That night we once more visited the neighborhood of the Albaicin at sunset, looking back at the Alhambra again, but with a new understanding of the buildings and ramparts. We wandered past shops we’d seen the night before, and continued down the hill as lights came on all over the city. We arrived at our apartment tired and cold, but satisfied with our day.

A fine, more modern building in downtown Granada.

A view of the cathedral, Cathedral of the Incarnation.

We had one last full day in Granada, and used it to explore the downtown area. Among other places, we visited the cathedral and the Royal Chapel of Granada (Capilla Real de Granada), burial place of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. It must have been a heady time for them, in January of 1492, when, after 10 hard-fought years, Boabdil (Emir Muhammad XII of Granada), last Moorish king of Granada, surrendered the keys to the city and left. Spain was finally “liberated” from the Moors, the Reconquista was over, and the Monarchs moved into the Alhambra. The remaining Moors, and the many Jews who had been welcome in Moorish lands, were required to convert to Christianity or face death. (The descendants of those Spanish Jews who chose to leave are today known as Sephardic).

The Royal Chapel of Granada, from the outside (where photos are permitted)

Upon their deaths (Isabella in 1504, Ferdinand 12 years later) the Monarchs were buried in the Royal Chapel, which was built under their instructions. We visited the inside for the first time – only €3.50 for us old folks – and I was surprisingly moved by our visit. We saw the altarpiece built for their funeral, one of those towering, overpowering works filled with Christian symbolism (and no small amount of gold and silver). (Sorry, no photos allowed!) This one was a collaboration of talented Italian and Spanish artists: multiple tiers of statues and sculptures. Truly impressive (if a bit overdone, IMHO.) By contrast, the Monarchs’ remains, in an underground crypt just below, were simple and bare – no nonsense, just lead coffins.

A portion of the massive altarpiece in the mausoleum of the Catholic Monarchs
(photo credit to larkin81 on Flickr)

The coffins of Ferdinand and Isabella, along with those of two of their children, Juana and Philip.
(photo credit to http://capillarealgranada.com/en/)

Also on display were artifacts and collections of the Monarchs: Queen Isabella’s silver crown; Ferdinand’s sword (the pommel was small, he must have had tiny hands!); Isabella’s prayer book, and the silver chest that contained the jewels she hocked to fund Columbus’ trip to the New World. Paula and I were both deeply impressed by these objects, once possessed by Monarchs who were pivotal to world history. My modern morality is outraged at the expulsion of the Moors and the Jews (F and I established the Inquisition in Spain), and especially at the treatment of the natives in the New World for centuries after. But (for better or worse!) much of the world we live in now was determined by, or at least involved, these two (their fifth child, Catherine, married King Henry VIII of England, and his later desire to divorce her lead to his suppression of Catholicism and decades of unrest in England, spurring the Puritans to escape to the New World; all of which still influences our times now).

And this is why we enjoy traveling in Europe! Tracing our roots back. Not just our personal roots, but our cultural roots – nothing gives a true feeling of history, of how we came to be who and how we are, than actually being in the spot where stuff happened. And for us, most of it happened in Europe.

Another view from the Plaza de San Nicolas.

We're now back in Seville, and it feels like coming "home." We're enjoying this city more than ever. With only a few days left before our time in the EU is up, every trip through the city evokes a sort of pre-nostalgia -- places that are so familiar show up in a whole new way, now that we're close to leaving!