The focal point of the sultan's private dwellings. From the entrance, the beauty of this patio progressively revelaed itself to the visitor. In either direction you take around the cloister, you find yourself walking through a forest of gilded pillars, like gold fringes of lace hanging from the ski.
PALACE & COURTYARD OF THE LIONS
Go
The Comares complex includes the Throne Room and is the most important nucleus of the Alhambra. Its balanced proportions lend it a feeling of serene majesty. The Mexuar is the oldest surviving part of the royal palaces but also the one that has seen most transformation since its early days.
MEXUAR AND COMARES PALACES AND THE BATHS
Go
The Alcazaba is the solitary forbear of an entire palatine city which would later come to be known as the citadel of the Alhambra). Of the thirty or more towers which originally fortified the ramparts twenty-two still exist, each with its own name usually based on mundane usage.
ALCAZABA, GATES, WALLS & TOWERS
Go
The Generalife is the only one remaining of the many granges that once existed. It was a retreat where the Granadan monarchs could relax, away from the daily toil and bustle of the court.
GENERALIFE PALACE AND GARDENS
Go
From the 14th to the 16th century within the Alhambra walls existed a city (medina) of which little remains today. Yet, some nazrid houses and palaces managed to survive. The Partal includes the whole area besides the Palace of the Lions with hanging gardens bordering the towers which provide a delightful stroll to the Generalife.
THE PARTAL, THE MEDINA AND OTHER PALACES
Go
As controversial and misunderstood as outstanding. Romantic clichés vilified the Palace of Charles V as an attempt to erase the Muslim past. A more dispassionate look at history reveals the intention was to reinforce Granada's role as a capital city by building great new monuments without destroying the old.
CHARLES V AND THE CHRISTIAN ALHAMBRA
Go
These pictures were taken in January 2003 and January 2010 when Granada and the Alhambra got white for a few hours. These are once-in-a-while shoots of the Alhambra covered in snow. Something only seen twice in the last 20 years!
ALHAMBRA IN WHITE (SNOW IN THE ALHAMBRA)
Go
Unique pictures of the Alhambra and Generalife at night. A different, more romantic, quieter approach to the monument.
INSIDE THE ALHAMBRA AND GENERALIFE AT NIGHT
Go
The Alhambra seen from Granada's best viewpoints including sunset shots from San Nicolas (the most beautiful in the world according to Bill Clinton's words) the Generalife Gardens and Paseo de los Tristes.
THE ALHAMBRA FROM GRANADA'S BEST VIEW POINTS
Go
A fascination for repetition and symmetry and the continuity of motifs is the prime motivation in Islamic art. Ornamental designs follow each other in reiterative rhythms towards infinity as a metaphor of eternity. The mathematical complexity of the tiling has fascinated artists such as Maurits C. Escher, whose work, exhibited in the Alhambra in 2011, inspired the title of this gallery.