Alhambra

Alhambra derives from the Arabic الْحَمْرَاء al-Ḥamrāʼ  (f.), meaning "the red one", the complete form of which was الْقَلْعَةُ ٱلْحَمْرَاءُ al-Qalʻat al-Ḥamrāʼ  "the red fortress (qalat)". The "Al-" in "Alhambra" means "the" in Arabic, but this is ignored in general usage in both English and Spanish, where the name is normally given the definite article.

The Tower of Justice (Puerta de la Justicia) is the original entrance gate to the Alhambra, built by Yusuf I in 1348.

Around the year 889, forces loyal to Umar ibn Hafsun in revolt against Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi and the Emirate of Córdoba besieged a small Islamic fortress in Granada held by Sawār Ben Hamdūn.[5][6] The first reference to al-Ḥamrāʼ  came in lines of poetry attached to an arrow shot over the ramparts, recorded by Ibn Hayyan:

Completed towards the end of Muslim rule of Spain by Yusuf I (1333–1353) and Muhammed V, Sultan of Granada (1353–1391), the Alhambra is a reflection of the culture of the last centuries of the Muslim rule of Al Andalus, reduced to the Nasrid Emirate of Granada. It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as the Reconquista by Spanish Christians won victories over Al Andalus. The Alhambra integrates natural site qualities with constructed structures and gardens, and is a testament to Moorish culture in Spain and the skills of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian artisans, craftsmen, and builders of their era.

The literal translation of Alhambra, "the red (female)," reflects the color of the red clay of the surroundings of which the fort is made. The buildings of the Alhambra were originally whitewashed; however, the buildings as seen today are reddish. Another possible origin of the name is the tribal designation of the Nasrid Dynasty, known as the Banu al-Ahmar Arabic: Sons of the Red (male), a sub-tribe of the Arab Qahtanite Banu Khazraj tribe. One of the early Nasrid ancestors was nicknamed Yusuf Al Ahmar (Yusuf the Red) and hence the (Nasrid) fraction of the Banu Khazraj took up the name of Banu al-Ahmar.

Detail of Islamic calligraphy in Mexuar Hall: و لا غالب إلا الله, "There is no victor but God"

The Court of the Lions in the Alhambra

The first reference to the Qal‘at al-Ḥamra was during the battles between the Arabs and the Muladies (people of mixed Arab and European descent) during the rule of the ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad (r. 888–912). In one particularly fierce and bloody skirmish, the Muladies soundly defeated the Arabs, who were then forced to take shelter in a primitive red castle located in the province of Elvira, presently located in Granada. According to surviving documents from the era, the red castle was quite small, and its walls were not capable of deterring an army intent on conquering. The castle was then largely ignored until the eleventh century, when its ruins were renovated and rebuilt by Samuel ibn Naghrela, vizier to the emir Badis ben Habus of the Zirid Dynasty of Al Andalus, in an attempt to preserve the small Jewish settlement also located on the natural plateau, Sabikah Hill.

Ibn Nasr, the founder of the Nasrid Dynasty, was forced to flee to Jaén to avoid persecution by King Ferdinand III of Castile and the Reconquista supporters working to end Spain's Moorish rule. After retreating to Granada, Ibn-Nasr took up residence at the Palace of Badis ben Habus in the Alhambra. A few months later, he embarked on the construction of a new Alhambra fit for the residence of a sultan. According to an Arabic manuscript since published as the Anónimo de Granada y Copenhague,

This year, 1238 Abdallah ibn al-Ahmar climbed to the place called "the Alhambra" inspected it, laid out the foundations of a castle and left someone in charge of its construction...

The design included plans for six palaces, five of which were grouped in the northeast quadrant forming a royal quarter, two circuit towers, and numerous bathhouses. During the reign of the Nasrid Dynasty, the Alhambra was transformed into a palatine city, complete with an irrigation system composed of acequias for the gardens of the Generalife located outside the fortress. Previously, the old Alhambra structure had been dependent upon rainwater collected from a cistern and from what could be brought up from the Albaicín. The creation of the Sultan's Canal solidified the identity of the Alhambra as a palace-city rather than a defensive and ascetic structure. The hydraulic system includes two long water channels and several sophisticated elevation devices to bring water onto the plateau.[8]

Detail of arabesques

A Court in the Alhambra at the Time of the Moors, Edwin Lord Weeks, 1876

The last Nasrid sultan, Muhammad XII of Granada, surrendered the Emirate of Granada in 1492 without the Alhambra itself being attacked when the forces of the Reyes Católicos, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, took the surrounding territory with a force of overwhelming numbers. Muhammad XII moved the remains of his ancestors from the complex, as was verified by Leopoldo Torres Balbás in 1925, when he found seventy empty tombs.[9] The remains are now likely to be located in Mondújar in the principality of Lecrín.[10][11]

The decoration within the palaces comes from the last great period of Andalusian art in Granada. With little of the Byzantine influence of contemporary Abassid architecture,[3] artists endlessly reproduced the same forms and trends, creating a new style that developed over the course of the Nasrid Dynasty. The Nasrids used freely all the stylistic elements that had been created and developed during eight centuries of Muslim rule in the Peninsula, including the Caliphate horseshoe arch, the Almohad sebka (a grid of rhombuses), the Almoravid palm, and unique combinations of them, as well as innovations such as stilted arches and muqarnas (stalactite ceiling decorations). Structurally, the design is simple and does not evince significant innovation. While artistically pleasing it was until the reconquest structurally ad hoc and reliant on the skills of subject artisans and workers.

Columns and muqarnas appear in several chambers, and the interiors of numerous palaces are decorated with arabesques and calligraphy. The arabesques of the interior are ascribed to, among other sultans, Yusuf I, Mohammed V, and Ismail I, Sultan of Granada. However, the muqarnas in the Lions' Courtyard at Alhambra have different configurations from their original designs, which might have been altered by repairs.[12]

Illustration from Recuerdos y bellezas de España. Reino de Granada by Francisco Javier Parcerisa, 1850

After the Christian conquest of the city in 1492, the conquerors began to alter the Alhambra. The open work was filled up with whitewash, the painting and gilding effaced, and the furniture soiled, torn, or removed.[3] Charles I (1516–1556) rebuilt portions in the Renaissance style of the period and destroyed the greater part of the winter palace to make room for a Renaissance-style structure which was never completed. Philip V (1700–1746) Italianised the rooms and completed his palace in the middle of what had been the Moorish building; he had partitions constructed which blocked up whole apartments.[4]

Over subsequent centuries the Moorish art was further damaged, and in 1812 some of the towers were destroyed by the French under Count Sebastiani.[4] In 1821, an earthquake caused further damage. Restoration work was undertaken in 1828 by the architect José Contreras, endowed in 1830 by Ferdinand VII. After the death of Contreras in 1847, it was continued by his son Rafael (died 1890) and his grandson.[4] Especially notable was the intervention of Leopoldo Torres Balbás in the 1930s: the young architect "opened arcades that had been walled up, re-excavated filled-in pools, replaced missing tiles, completed inscriptions that lacked portions of their stuccoed lettering, and installed a ceiling in the still unfinished palace of Charles V".[13]

Modern plan of the Alhambra

According to the site's current architect, Pedro Salmeron Escobar, the Alhambra evolved organically over a period of several centuries from the ancient hilltop fortress defined by a narrow promontory carved by the river Darro and overlooking the Vega or Plain of Granada as it descends from the Sierra Nevada.[14] The red earth from which the fortress is constructed is a granular aggregate held together by a medium of red clay which gives the resulting layered brick- and stone- reinforced construction (tapial calicastrado) its characteristic hue and is at the root of the name of 'the Red Hill'.[15]

This crude earthiness is counterpointed by the startling fine alabaster white stucco work of the famous interiors.[15] Meltwater from the 'Snowy Mountains' is drawn across an arched vault at the eastern tip of the Torre del Agua ('Water Tower') and channeled through the citadel via a complex system of conduits (acequia) and water tanks (los albercones) which create the celebrated interplay of light, sound and surface.[15]

Alhambra is about 740 metres (2,430 ft) in length by 205 metres (670 ft) at its greatest width. It extends from west-northwest to east-southeast and covers an area of about 142,000 square metres (1,530,000 sq ft) or 35 acres.[16] The Alhambra's most westerly feature is the Alcazaba (citadel), a strongly fortified position built to protect the original post-Roman districts of Iliberri, now 'Centro', and Gárnata al-yahūd ('Granada of the Jews', now Realejo, and the Moorish suburb of El Albayzín.

Plan of the Nasrid Palaces, Alhambra, 1889.

  Palaces of the Ambassadors

  Palace of the Lions

  Mexuar

  Garden of Lindajar and later habitation of the Emir

Due to touristic demand, modern access runs contrary to the original sequence which began from a principal access via the Puerta de la Justicia (Gate of Justice) onto a large souq or public market square facing the Alcazaba, now subdivided and obscured by later Christian-era development.[15] From the Puerta del Vino (Wine Gate) ran the Calle Real (Royal Street) dividing the Alhambra along its axial spine into a southern residential quarter, with mosques, hamams (bathhouses) and diverse functional establishments,[17] and a greater northern portion, occupied by several palaces of the nobility with extensive landscaped gardens commanding views over the Albayzin. All of this was subservient to the great Tower of the Ambassadors in the Palacio Comares, which acted as the royal audience chamber and throne room with its three arched windows dominating the city. The private, internalised universe of the Palacio de Los Leones (Palace of the Lions) adjoins the public spaces at right angles (see Plan illustration) but was originally connected only by the function of the Royal Baths, the Eye of Aixa's Room serving as the exquisitely decorated focus of meditation and authority overlooking the refined garden of Lindaraja/Daraxa toward the city.[17]

The rest of the plateau comprises a number of earlier and later Moorish palaces, enclosed by a fortified wall, with thirteen defensive towers, some such as the Torres de la Infanta and Cattiva containing elaborate vertical palaces in miniature.[17] The river Darro passes through a ravine on the north and divides the plateau from the Albaicín district of Granada. Similarly, the Assabica Valley, containing the Alhambra Park, lies on the west and south, and, beyond this valley, the almost parallel ridge of Monte Mauror separates it from the Antequeruela district. Another ravine separates it from the Generalife, the summer pleasure gardens of the emir. Escobar notes that the later planting of deciduous elms obscures the overall perception of the layout, so a better reading of the original landscape is given in winter when the trees are bare.[18]

The citadel before and after the 20th-century reconstruction campaign

The Alhambra resembles many medieval Christian strongholds in its threefold arrangement as a castle, a palace and a residential annex for subordinates. The alcazaba or citadel, its oldest part, is built on the isolated and precipitous foreland which terminates the plateau on the northwest. All that remains are its massive outer walls, towers and ramparts. On its watchtower, the 25 m (85 ft) high Torre de la Vela, the flag of Ferdinand and Isabella was first raised as a symbol of the Spanish conquest of Granada on 2 January 1492.[3] A turret containing a large bell was added in the 18th century and restored after being damaged by lightning in 1881. Beyond the Alcazaba is the palace of the Moorish rulers, The Nasrid Palaces or Alhambra proper, and beyond this is the Alhambra Alta (Upper Alhambra), originally occupied by officials and courtiers.

Access from the city to the Alhambra Park is afforded by the Puerta de las Granadas (Gate of Pomegranates), a triumphal arch dating from the 15th century. A steep ascent leads past the Pillar of Charles V, a fountain erected in 1554, to the main entrance of the Alhambra. This is the Puerta de la Justicia (Gate of Justice), a massive horseshoe archway surmounted by a square tower and used by the Moors as an informal court of justice. The hand of Fatima, with fingers outstretched as a talisman against the evil eye, is carved above this gate on the exterior; a key, the symbol of authority, occupies the corresponding place on the interior. A narrow passage leads inward to the Plaza de los Aljibes (Place of the Cisterns), a broad open space which divides the Alcazaba from the Moorish palace. To the left of the passage rises the Torre del Vino (Wine Tower), built in 1345 and used in the 16th century as a cellar. On the right is the palace of Charles V, a smaller Renaissance building, to construct which part of the Alhambra, including the original main entrance, was torn down.

Royal complex

Courtyard of the Palace of Charles V

The Royal Complex (Plaza de Nazaríes) consists of three main parts: Mexuar, Serallo, and the Harem. The Mexuar is modest in decor and houses the functional areas for conducting business and administration. Strapwork is used to decorate the surfaces in Mexuar. The ceilings, floors, and trim are made of dark wood and are in sharp contrast to white, plaster walls. Serallo, built during the reign of Yusuf I in the 14th century, contains the Patio de los Arrayanes (Court of the Myrtles). Brightly colored interiors featured dado panels, yesería, azulejo, cedar, and artesonado. Artesonado are highly decorative ceilings and other woodwork. Lastly, the Harem is also elaborately decorated and contains the living quarters for the wives and mistresses of the Arab monarchs. This area contains a bathroom with running water (cold and hot), baths, and pressurized water for showering. The bathrooms were open to the elements in order to allow in light and air.

Court of the Myrtles

Main article: Court of the Myrtles

Windows of the Court of Myrtles

The Court of the Myrtles was built under Muhammad V of Granada, and with 11 qasā'id by Ibn Zamrak, 8 of which remain.[19] The present entrance to the Palacio Árabe (Arab palace), or Casa Real, is by a small door from which a corridor connects to the Patio de los Arrayanes (Court of the Myrtles), also called the Patio de la Alberca (Court of the Blessing or Court of the Pond), from the Arabic birka, "pool". The birka helped to cool the palace and acted as a symbol of power. Because water was usually in short supply, the technology required to keep these pools full was expensive and difficult. This court is 42 m (140 ft) long by 22 m (74 ft) broad, and in the centre there is a large pond set in the marble pavement, full of goldfish, and with myrtles growing along its sides. There are galleries on the north and south sides; the southern gallery is 7 m (23 ft) high and supported by a marble colonnade. Underneath it, to the right, was the principal entrance, and over it are three windows with arches and miniature pillars. From this court, the walls of the Torre de Comares are seen rising over the roof to the north and reflected in the pond.[20]

Hall of the Ambassadors

Ceiling of the Hall of the Ambassadors

The Salón de los Embajadores (Hall of the Ambassadors) is the largest room in the Alhambra and occupies all the Torre de Comares. It is a square room, the sides being 12 m (37 ft) in length, while the centre of the dome is 23 m (75 ft) high. This was the grand reception room, and the throne of the sultan was placed opposite the entrance. The grand hall projects from the walls of the palace, providing views in three directions. In this sense, it was a "mirador" from which the palace's inhabitants could gaze outward to the surrounding landscape.[21] The tiles are nearly 4 ft (1.2 m) high all round, and the colours vary at intervals. Over them is a series of oval medallions with inscriptions, interwoven with flowers and leaves. There are nine windows, three on each facade, and the ceiling is decorated with white, blue and gold inlays in the shape of circles, crowns and stars. The walls are covered with varied stucco works, surrounding many ancient escutcheons.[20]

Court of the Lions and fountain

Main article: Court of the Lions

The Court of the Lions, an example of Islamic Moorish architecture and garden design

The Court of the Lions (Patio de los Leones) is an oblong courtyard, 116 ft (35 m) in length by 66 ft (20 m) in width, surrounded by a low gallery supported on 124 white marble columns. A pavilion projects into the court at each extremity, with filigree walls and a light domed roof. The square is paved with coloured tiles and the colonnade with white marble, while the walls are covered 5 ft (1.5 m) up from the ground with blue and yellow tiles, with a border above and below of enamelled blue and gold. The columns supporting the roof and gallery are irregularly placed. They are adorned by varieties of foliage, etc.; about each arch there is a large square of stucco arabesques; and over the pillars is another stucco square of filigree work.

Hall of the Abencerrajes

"Honeycomb," "stalactite," or "muqarnas" vaulting in the Hall of the Abencerrajes

The Sala de los Abencerrajes (Hall of the Abencerrages) derives its name from a legend according to which the father of Boabdil, the last sultan of Granada, having invited the chiefs of that line to a banquet, massacred them here.[24] This room is a perfect square, with a lofty dome and trellised windows at its base. The roof is decorated in blue, brown, red and gold, and the columns supporting it spring out into the arch form in a remarkably beautiful manner. Opposite to this hall is the Sala de las dos Hermanas (Hall of the two Sisters), so-called from two white marble slabs laid as part of the pavement. These slabs measure 500 by 220 cm (15 by 7½ ft). There is a fountain in the middle of this hall, and the roof – a dome honeycombed with tiny cells, all different, and said to number 5000 – is an example of the "stalactite vaulting" of the Moors.

Generalife

Main article: Generalife

Pools in the Palacio de Generalife (left) and the Partal (right; in the Alta Alhambra of the complex)

Of the outlying buildings connected to the Alhambra, the foremost in interest is the Palacio de Generalife or Gineralife (the Muslim Jennat al Arif, "Garden of Arif," or "Garden of the Architect"). This villa dates from the beginning of the 14th century but has been restored several times. The Villa de los Martires (Martyrs' Villa), on the summit of Monte Mauror, commemorates by its name the Christian slaves who were forced to build the Alhambra and confined here in subterranean cells.[25] The Torres Bermejas (Vermilion Towers), also on Monte Mauror, are a well-preserved Moorish fortification, with underground cisterns, stables, and accommodation for a garrison of 200 men. Several Roman tombs were discovered in 1829 and 1857 at the base of Monte Mauror.[20][25]

The Alhambra features various styles of the Arabic epigraphy that developed under the Nasrid dynasty, and particularly under Yusuf I and Muhammad V.[26] José Miguel Puerta Vílchez compares the walls of the Alhambra to the pages of a manuscript, drawing similarities between the zilīj-covered dados and the geometric manuscript illuminations, and the epigraphical forms in the palace to calligraphic motifs in contemporary Arabic manuscripts.[19]

The texts of the Alhambra include "devout, regal, votive, and Quranic phrases and sentences," formed into arabesques, carved into wood and marble, and glazed onto tiles.[19] Poets of the Narsid court, including Ibn al-Khatīb and Ibn Zamrak, composed poems for the palace.[19][27] Most of the poetry is inscribed in Nasrid cursive script, while foliate and floral Kufic inscriptions—often formed into arches, columns, enjambments, and "architectural calligrams"—are generally used as decorative elements.[19] Kufic calligrams, particularly of the words "blessing" (بركة baraka) and "felicity" (يمن yumn), are used as decorative motifs in arabesque throughout the palace.[19]

وفتحت بالسيف الجزيرة
"And the peninsula was conquered with the sword"

يبنون القصور تخدما
"They build palaces diligently"

ولا غالب إلا الله
"There is no victor but God."

Epigraphic samples from the Court of the Myrtles: what Muhammad Kurd Ali described as Andalusi mushabbak (sinuous) script (خط أندلسي مُشَبَّك), or what Western sources refer to as Nasrid cursive (left and center images)[28] and floral Kufic script (right).

• 12 Treasures of Spain
• Alhambra Decree
• Islamic gardens
• History of Medieval Arabic and Western European domes

• Fernández Puertas, Antonio (1997). The Alhambra. Vol 1: From the Ninth Century to Yusuf I (1354). Saqi Books. ISBN 978-0-86356-466-6.
• Fernández Puertas, Antonio (1998). The Alhambra. Vol 2: (1354–1391). Saqi Books. ISBN 978-0-86356-467-3.
• Fernández Puertas, Antonio (1999). The Alhambra. Vol 3: From 1391 to the Present Day. Saqi Books. ISBN 978-0-86356-589-2.
• Grabar, Oleg. The Alhambra. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1978.
• Jacobs, Michael; Fernández, Francisco (2009). Alhambra. Frances Lincoln. ISBN 978-0-7112-2518-3.
• Lowney, Chris. A Vanished World: Medieval Spain's Golden Age of Enlightenment. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2005.
• Menocal, Maria, Rosa. The Ornament of the World. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2002.
• Read, Jan. The Moors in Spain and Portugal. London: Faber and Faber, 1974.
• Ruggles, D. Fairchild. "Alhambra," in Encyclopaedia of Islam, third edition. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2008.
• Ruggles, D. Fairchild. Gardens, Landscape, and Vision in the Palaces of Islamic Spain, Philadelphia: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.
• Ruggles, D. Fairchild. Islamic Gardens and Landscapes, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008.
• Steves, Rick (2004). Spain and Portugal 2004, pp. 204–205. Avalon Travel Publishing. ISBN 1-56691-529-5.
• Stewart, Desmond. The Alhambra. Newsweek Publishing, 1974. ISBN 0-88225-088-4.
• The World Heritage. Istanbul and Cordoba, Vol. #15. Film Ideas, 2008. ISBN 1-57557-715-1.
• García-Pulido, Luis José (September 2016). "The Mastery in Hydraulic Techniques for Water Supply at the Alhambra". Journal of Islamic Studies. 27 (3): 355–382. doi:10.1093/jis/etw016.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alhambra.

• Alhambra official website
• Alhambra in turgranada.es Official site for tourism of the province of Granada.
• The Alhambra in Granada, Spain Masterpieces of Islamic Architecture.
• InFocus: La Alhambra & Generalife (Granada, Spain) at HitchHikers Handbook
• Paul F. Hoye, 1967, The Alhambra, Saudi Aramco World
• Murphy, James Cavanah, 1816, The Alhamra (Alhambra) at Granada, islamic-arts.org
• Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Alhambra (see index)
• High-resolution 360° Panoramas of Alhambra | Art Atlas