Susan's NGTAW Blog: Touring the Alhambra

Entering the Alhambra at the Acequia Real - source of water for the fortress city

Sunday, November 3, 2019 Granada

We completed our tour of the Generalife gardens, and now walked across to the

location to start our tour of the Alhambra. We entered the Alhambra complex

via the gate next to the Torre del Aqua and the Acequia Real (Royal Water Channel), which served as the water source for the complex from the Darro River for more than 8 centuries. We walked through the old Medina and other areas where non royals lived. We also walked past the old convent, which is now the Paradore San Francisco – so sad we didn’t stay there! A Catholic church was built over the old mosque (of course), Santa Maria del Alhambra.

Torre del Aqua

The water channel of the Acequia Real

Inside Alhambra view of the Torre del Aqua

Archeologic zone near the medina and initialized trees

Cypress arches lead the way to the central area of the Alhambra

Entrance gate to the Convent of St. Frances - now a parador located within the Alhambra

Santa Maria -Catholic church within the Alhambra

We toured the Palace of Charles V, a building begun in the early 1500’s to allow

the Holy Roman Emperor a residence for when he wished to stay within the

Alhambra. However, it was never finished – the roof was not completed until 1957. It now serves as a fine arts museum.

Renaissance palace of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V - never completed nor occupied

Exterior of the Palace of Charles V

Interior of Charles V palace - two levels of columns - the roof wasn't completed until the 1900s.

Love the stone columns

Our tour of the Alhambra was inspiring – some have called it one of the wonders

of the world. It was the last Moorish enclave in Andalusia – only surrendering to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492 – and because the Sultan surrendered it, it wasn’t destroyed. Rather, the Sultan and entourage moved out

and a few days later, the Spanish king and queen were using the throne room. In fact, the throne room we toured is reported as the location that Christopher

Columbus petitioned Ferdinand and Isabella for his voyage to the New World.

For more than 200 years, until January 2, 1492, when Muhammad XII surrendered to the Catholic monarchs, the Emirate of Granada was the last Muslim kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. The Alhambra was surrendered as part of the Granada war, which ended the time of the Reconquista and what was known as the convivencia ("live and let live") between religions In the Iberian peninsula. After the surrender in 1492, the Jews were forced to convert to Christianity, and by 1501, all of Granada's Muslims were obliged to convert, become slaves, or be exiled; by 1526 this prohibition spread to the rest of Spain.

We walked past the Puerta del Vino and the exterior of the Alcazaba, the oldest

part of the Alhambra, and then entered the area of the Moorish palaces.