The Alhambra

I have been somewhat frustrated this year with the, until now, unresolved struggle to identify my photography project - my muse and I have been unable to connect, likely because I haven't been listening.

Today we connected and I discovered that my project, photographically and otherwise, has been the Alhambra.

Wall and towers of the Alhambra

Since our first visit to the Alhambra a few years ago, which was abbreviated due to cold and rainy weather, I have hoped to return. So, after we decided to go once more to the city of Granada in Spain, I looked forward to our return visit to the amazing, magical and, in many ways, mysterious Alhambra. And since that visit a couple of weeks ago (when I took over 350 photos in 3 hours!) I have been reading and attempting to understand a bit about the history, architecture and culture of this magnificent and indescribable place.

A garden walkway near a palace

A couple of days ago we were having lunch with some fellow Canadians we met here and when I began extolling the virtues of the Alhambra, one of them asked, "What exactly is the Alhambra?" My explanation was, no doubt, completely inadequate - but, how to explain it? It turns out that many have tried with more or less success. I have found one general description which I like and will paraphrase some of it here to provide those who have neither heard of it nor had the privilege of visiting it, a descriptive glimpse and include some of my photos and comments, telling you way more than you likely want to know.

Though much attention is focussed (for very good reasons, which deserve mention later) on the main palaces of the Muslim Nasrid Dynasty (1237-1491), the Alhambra was more than a palace. It was a complete city, albeit small, with homes, administrative offices, garrisons, mosques, schools, baths, cemeteries, gardens as well as the artisans and builders whose skills created not only beautiful furnishings but the exquisite decorative elements of buildings and gardens.

Table top, music box and backgammon game - replicas

The Alhambra was enclosed by over 2 kilometres of walls and over 30 towers, of which only 22 remain.

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Wall and tower of the Alhambra

The initial project, built around the 9th century, was the Alcazaba, a fortification located 700 metres above sea level on a hillside composed of detritus from the Sierra Nevada mountains. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the latter part of the period during which the Moors ruled in this part of the Iberian peninsula (from 711 to late 15th century), the Sultans, occasionally in collaboration with Christian "experts", envisioned and initiated the construction of the palaces and associated structures which comprised the Alhambra in the 15th century.

After Granada was reconquered by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, the Christians began adding their own contributions to the Alhambra with modifications and reconstructions continuing even to the present day. So, the Alhambra was not planned entirely from the start; it grew gradually over the centuries from the original fortress, the Alcazaba, increasing in splendour over the years.

View of Sierra Nevada Mountains from inside Alhamra

The designers used location and orientation as well as incorporating architectural and engineering principles to create an environment of both beauty and functionality. This included such things as harmonious use of structure, artistry and light, the arrangement and design of closed and open spaces to provide comfort in varied weather conditions and a highly sophisticated aqueduct system which brought water from the Sierra Nevada mountains, visible from the city, not only for drinking and personal hygiene but for cooling fountains, ritual body cleansing and hygienic toilets.

The main reasons for the compelling interest in the Nasrid palaces are, first, they are quite spectacular and, second, these are the only remaining original buildings of the Muslim Alhambra. And it is considered surprising that they have survived as it seems they were built more for their beauty and their meaning than for endurability, in keeping with Muslim belief in the transitory nature of things.

An archway in the Palace of the Lions

Of course, there were other threats to the survival of the Alhambra - one in the form of Napoleon's plan, at the end of the French occupation of Spain in the 1800's, to destroy it completely. His forces succeeded in destroying the "medina" (the dwellings and shops) but the rest was saved by Jose Garcia who managed to thwart the plan by disarming the explosives that had been set to demolish the whole complex, including the palaces.

The final threat to the Alhambra was abandonment as royalty, the military and officials from Granada, for a variety of reasons, no longer found it useful. Weather, entropy and non paying residents including bandits and all manner of rogues and non rogues who took up residence and had neither the wherewithal nor the interest in maintenance, all contributed to its deterioration and decay.

It seems likely that the French military's intent to reduce the Alhambra to rubble was standard military strategy rather than purely wanton destruction.

Lower gardens of one of the palaces

Washington Irving, in his book Tales of the Alhambra, paints a very positive picture of the French relationship with the Alhambra - "..when Granada was in the hands of the French, the Alhambra was garrisoned by their troops, and the palace was occasionally inhabited by the French commander. With that enlightened taste which has ever distinguished the French nation in their conquests, this monument of Moorish elegance and grandeur was rescued from the absolute ruin and desolation that were overwhelming it. The roofs were repaired, the saloons and galleries protected from the weather, the gardens cultivated, the watercourses restored, the fountains once more made to throw up their sparkling showers; and Spain may thank her invaders for having preserved to her the most beautiful and interesting of her historical monuments."

Possibly this contribution by the French and Irving's recounting of it played some role in the recognition of the historical, cultural and architectural importance of the Alhambra and the subsequent investment in the restoration and preservation of this magnificent place which has become, we were told, the most visited monument in Spain - with 300 people passing through the entrance gates every 30 minutes of every day! Well, not during the night.

Leaving the Alhambra on the Royal Street

I said that I would tell much more than you want to know,  and there is much more to come.