Tuesday, 20 July 2010

Magic of the Alhambra

Our day started before dawn yesterday, with a two and a half hour drive to Granada. On a hilltop under the Sierra Nevada (incredibly, snow-capped despite 40 degree heat in the city below), and hidden in a forest of elms, are the palace, fortress, mosque and gardens of the Alhambra...



 





... built in the 13th and 14th centuries by the Sultans of the ruling Nasrid dynasty. Their aim - to create a physical realisation of the descriptions of Paradise in Islamic poetry ...


(Gardens of the Generalife, planted by the Moors with roses, oranges and myrtle)








They knew a thing or two about designing with space, light, water and nature, those Moors ...










"Only Allah is victorious" reads the inscription above. I guess this meant nothing to the illiterate Christian reconquistadores who were already advancing as the Alhambra was being built, about to start on a brutal repression of both Muslims and Jews and their cultures.


View of old Granada from Alhambra Palace.
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2 comments:

  1. Tara Bradford24 July 2010 at 04:28

    I didn't go to Granada this trip, due to the heat! Will go back to Sevilla/Cordoba/Granada/etc. in December/January for two weeks.

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  2. Angela-Dawn30 July 2010 at 01:06

    Oh how beautiful! This is not the same experience of Spain as we had - backpacking in the 80s. It's time for the more adult and financially more equipped experience. I just love your pictures.

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