As soon as we booked our timeshare in Costa del Sol, Amy was online looking for things to do. She quickly noted how close Marbella was to Granada and it was immediately clear that we were headed there to see the Alhambra. When we arrived in Marbella and got a sense of the options, she immediately went online to try to get tickets only to discover that general admission tickets were all sold out. Tickets through the resort were over the top expensive so it looked like we were out of luck until Amy noted a group of guided tours. The cost was significantly more than a general ticket, but significantly less than the offer from the resort so we agreed to go for it and signed up for an English language tour focusing on Women in the Alhambra. The tour began at 0930 and we were required to pick up our tickets an hour ahead of time at the Ticketmaster machine. The drive from Marbella to Granada is almost 2 hours and we left a few minutes for getting lost which made for a very early start to the day.
As it turned out, the decision to go on a tour was a fantastic one! We effectively got a backstage pass with our own security guard who followed us around and let us into places where visitors are not normally allowed. It also included a trip into the city of Granada to see some of the sites there. Unfortunately, some of those, like the convent, were closed due to Holy Week activities and others were unavailable, like the cathedral due to a mass being said. There were only 5 people on our tour, although the guide said there could have been a maximum of 30. The weather for our visit was fickle, to say the least. We started in bright sunshine and warmth, but at one time later on were being buffeted by rain swept gusts of chilled air.
The Alhambra was actually more than a single palace although most of what was originally there has been destroyed either by the Christians who later occupied it or by the Muslims themselves in a fit of pique when they were kicked out. I took several hundred pictures; far too many to include them all here with any kind of coherent description. So, I will include some of the nicer ones with brief descriptions of what they are. As you enter the complex you see the summer house of the sultans sitting outside the fortified complex.
It was situated in such a way as to provide maximum pleasantness, but the sultan had to return inside the walls at night which he did along a private road with its own entrance.
We visited the Palace of the 3 Princesses, not normally on view.
Legend has it that two of the three young ladies left through a window to be with their Christian lovers leaving the third behind.
This would have been made possible by the fact that the small, square building is built into the fortified wall.
A stroll through the remains of a palace site uncovered evidence of a Roman-style toilet with running water.
Our guide arranged for us to visit the Hall of the Ambassadors, even though it wasn’t on our tour.
Everywhere you look is decorated with writing or geometric designs, all of it was originally painted and some still has original pigmentation.
We had a chance to visit the Court of the Lions and its fabulous fountain which had just been reinstalled last week following restoration.
The base is so large that it won’t fit through any of the entrances indicating that it was placed before the palace was finished around it.
There were the remains of marvelous geometric tile work.
Another unique place we visited was the upstairs private quarters of the family.
While the decoration was more functional and less ornate, it was still obviously the home of wealthy people.
There were any number of stunning gardens and open spaces.
Rather than have windows facing outward, they always looked into these interior courtyard spaces.
Another interesting place off the tourist path was a tower decorated for Charles V as he made his way across Europe and decided to build a new palace on the site of his former foe at Alhambra. The interior is decorated with a series of frescoes depicting portions of his travels.
The tower can be seen to the far right of the picture taken from the town below where we lunched on tapas.
As part of our visit to the town, we stopped at a hamam.
After having seen so much of the Roman, gothic, baroque, etc. styles of architecture the sites at the Alhambra were quite noteworthy and different. Even though the Muslims were present in places such as Sicily, little of their work remains. I was impressed by how light and spacious everything seemed, not at all heavy or oppressive. Imposing wasn’t the intention. Some of that was made possible by their work with plaster rather than carving stone. This allowed them to cover every surface with detail and color.
Overall, we enjoyed the trip immensely and returned to the resort tired, but satisfied.
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