Alhambra and Generalife
Nasrid palace-city above Granada, with carved stucco halls, courtyards and terraced gardens.
The Alhambra grew from a hilltop fortress into the palace-city of the Nasrid rulers of Granada, begun under Muhammad I in 1238 and extended by his successors through the fourteenth century. Behind the red walls of the Alcazaba lie the Comares Palace and the Palace of the Lions, where carved stucco, glazed tilework and honeycomb vaulting frame the Court of the Myrtles and the Court of the Lions. After 1492 the site passed to the Castilian crown, which added the circular-courtyard Palace of Charles V designed by Pedro Machuca.
The monumental complex is managed by the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife and takes in the Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba, the Partal gardens, the Generalife summer estate on the neighbouring hill, and several outlying monuments in the city. The Palace of Charles V houses the Museum of the Alhambra and the Museum of Fine Arts of Granada, and hosts temporary exhibitions. Numbers admitted each day are capped, and entry to the Nasrid Palaces is by half-hour slot. UNESCO inscribed the site as World Heritage in 1984.
Highlights
- Court of the Lions, with its alabaster fountain and 124 slender columns
- Hall of the Ambassadors under a domed cedar ceiling of inlaid stars
- Generalife water gardens and the Patio de la Acequia on the Cerro del Sol
- Renaissance Palace of Charles V and the Museum of the Alhambra
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