Today was Alhambra day. I read that it was best to go early to avoid the crowds. Since it was also a Saturday, I figured that was even more true. There is one part of the Alhambra that has a timed entrance. All the rest you can enter as you please. I read that one couldn’t be late for the timed entrance so we got up and left shortly after 8:00 for our 9:00 entrance time.
We grabbed some breakfast items on the way out and then began the trek up the hill. We arrived in plenty of time. There was no line. The workers told us to come back at 9:00. We returned at 8:40 and were first in line for 9:00. People with 8:30 entrance times were arriving up to about 8:50. So much for being on time. We had to show our ticket and passport to get in. The rest of the day we only had to show our passport which seemed odd.
The timed entrance was for the Palacio Nazares. This seems to be the main palace and is decorated in a highly stylized fashion with Moorish style details. There are quite a few rooms that one goes through. However, no furniture is placed anywhere so it’s kind of hard to visualize how the rooms were used. As such one is just looking at the architectural details.
There are tiles everywhere, and they add the color and the interest. The tiles are not just painted; they are also seemingly carved to create a 3-dimmensional effect. In fact the colors are often pretty subtle, but the carved details stand out. It’s hard to capture the amazing quality of the tiles in a photograph without getting closer to see the details.
Not only are the walls decorated, but the ceilings are as well. In some places they have a look like the dripping of plaster which is quite effective. One often sees this in the corners of the rooms. In one room the ceilings were painted with more European artwork, so that makes me think that was done at a later date. Wood was also used on the ceilings in places.
The doors were usually constructed of wood, but they had a lot of detail on them as well with repetitive patterns. Then around the door would be a design in tiles that would make the door stand out. WIndows also had decorative frames around the top of the window.
Throughout the building were rooms that were open air courtyards. These rooms would have either a reflecting pool with a small water spout at each end or a fountain. Again it was hard to tell how these spaces related to the rest of the house. One can buy a guide to listen to throughout the tour of the Alhambra, but I chose not to get that. I find it really slows me down. However, it might have been helpful to learn the purpose of the different rooms.
If you were looking closely at the tiles in the photos, you may have noticed sections that looked like writing. I thought the same thing and was curious as to what they wrote. I wondered if they had religious meaning. An internet search told me that the most common inscription is “There is no greater conqueror that Allah.” There are other references to Allah as well as sayings about life, quotes from the Koran and poets.
At the end of our tour we went through some final courtyards and then underground areas that were just bricks, and a tiled bathing area.
We came out into a garden area. At the Alhambra there are a lot of garden areas. In general they have a more formal appearance. They use a lot of low shrubs which are shaped into various rows creating geometric shapes. Within the shapes they plant flowers, roses or trees. They also include a lot of water features.
A deep ravine divides the main area of Alhambra from an area called Generalife. We walked along the side of the ravine and saw the guard towers there as well as the gardens next to the walkways.
Crossing over, we came to the area of Generalife. This is the summer home for the rulers. They considered it a place of rest. Initially it is mostly garden space which also has a number of water features. They provide a cooling element to the gardens.
Eventually we came to the house. The features were simpler than the Palacio Nazares. However, some of the same styles we had seen before were in use here. It seemed to have more outdoor space than indoor space, at least in terms of what we could see.
The path took us out through the back and into more garden space. One of the more interesting things I saw was in the staircase going up. They had water running down in a gutter at the top of the wall in the sides of the stairs. It created a nice sound of flowing water. I had never seen that before.
From Generalife we walked back toward the main palaces again passing through more gardens. I had seen a sign pointing to the palace of King Carlos V. It turns out that we had seen that the night before, the round interior space. I did go upstairs this time and noted the interesting ceilings. There was also a bridal couple up there having their pictures taken.
Our final visit was the fort area of Alcazaba. We had to show our passports again to go in there. The main interior is a large space that seems to show where all the rooms for the soldiers were located. It also has some viewpoints that have amazing views of the area around the Alhambra. One of the things visible is the old wall on the hillside.
There is also one other area that is higher and so once more I was climbing stairs to the top to see the view. In this case I wanted to see the view of the area where the soldiers stayed more than anything else. The stairs up weren’t too bad, but they were very high steps.
With that we decided to end our visit to Alhambra. The morning had been nice and cool, but it was starting to warm up with the temperature expected to be 80. We were hungry since we had very little for breakfast, and it was now almost 3:00. We decided to stop at a Mexican restaurant for lunch, which would be our main meal of the day. It was good.
When we reached our hotel we both felt tired and took a long nap. Later in the evening we went for a walk. It was actually quite pleasant outside. I thought we were just going for ice cream so I didn’t take my camera. However, we ended up walking by the river. First we walked down a boulevard. There was a large walking path between two streets. A lot of people were out walking there.
Then we came to the river. There was a nice green area beside the river with paths, fountains, and statues along with a children’s playground. It was very nice walking in the cool of the trees along the river.
We finally got our ice cream and sat and watched the people. We were surprised at the number of people out just walking. Families, couples, groups of friends, all were out in the evening. Of course the outdoor dining areas were full as well. It is such a different evening experience than what one finds in our area and a great way to end the day.
Next week I’ll share what else Granada has to offer. I hope you are enjoying reading about our trip through Europe. We are coming to an end, and I thank you for sticking with me as I have shared this journey. Questions or comments are always welcome in the comment section below. Until next week….