Alhambra – the last islamic emperor in Spain

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Spain 4 27.12.2009 - Our journey continued to the city of Granada. Alhambra is located here, the world heritage site by the UNESCO which was crowned since 1984. We arrived in the evening by bus from Cordoba. Then we took public transport No.33 to Cathedral stop and take minibus Alhambra No.30 or 32 from Plaza Isabel La Catolica to the main entrance of Alhambra.We stayed in the hostel "Posada Dona Lupe" just in front of Alhambra Gate. Therefore we can wake up early, then take the first line to buy the ticket, otherwise we can stuck on the long queue. The ticket cost 13 EUR, and you got a map of Alhambra complex.

-Nasrid Palace of Alhambra-

  -Alcazaba, former military complex-

Entering the Alhambra area seemed to be in paradise and brought us to feel the triumph of Islam in the past. Alhambra monument complex consists of several parts, which Charles V Palace, Medina, Alcazaba, Rauda, Nasrid Palace and Generalife, which covers an area of approximately 142,000 square meters. Before entering the Nasrid Palace, we have seen the building of Charles V Palace was built in 1533 after the city of Granada was taken by the Catholic King in 1492. In the opposite, there is Alcazaba fortress and royal military training camp. But to save time, we just continue directly to Nasrid Palace, as the favorite one, and also there is a time 

Nasrid Palace is a palace complex for the residence of the kings of Granada, and is the biggest attraction of the Alhambra complex as a whole. Its construction was started by the founder of the dynasty Alhamar in the thirteenth century, although the buildings that survived until now are generally derived from the fourteenth century. For the whole object of the Alhambra, just in Nasrid Palace was given a schedule entry, to anticipate many visitors in the palace. Once we get in, we can stay as long as we want.

-Nasrid Palace of Alhambra, different point of view-

Alhambra walls full of ornate calligraphy. There are also poems by three poets of Granada Court, namely Ibn al-Yayyab (1274-1349), Ibn al-Jatib (1313-1375) and Ibn Zamrak (1333-1393), secretary of the embassy of the kingdom and the prime minister. Among them, Ibn Zamrak regarded as the most brilliant of the poets of the Alhambra. Some photos below show us:

-walls cover by calligraphy- 

-Pillars of Nasrid Palace- 

Let me talk a little bit story about Alhambra, which I summarized from www.alhambra.org and Wikipedia. Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex built in the mid-13th century by the Umayyad dynasty in Al-Andalus, which was in the hill city of Granada, now in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Alhambra is not only a former palace building kings of Islam, but the historical evidence of Islamic civilization.
Alhambra comes from the Arabic, which literally means "red", or complete the form is Calat Alhambra means "red castle", which reflects the color of red clay from the castle for building materials was made. Although the actual building of the Alhambra originally painted white, but now the building looks right now is red.

   -From this point, we can see the Albaycin village-

 -Generalife with the Alhambra view-

Last is the Generalife, a relaxed place to play and stay calm cool for the kings. This place is built with a garden and fountain. Origin of the word from the Generalife is from Arabic, namely al-Arif Yanat means garden architect. Which is a symbol that the creations in this world is from God as the architect and creator of the universe.

 -Alhambra view from Albaycin village-

After explore Alhambra and Generalife for about 5-6 hours. We checked out from the hostel, but before that I bought some souvenirs. Then, we continue explore the Albaycin village until night before heading to Barcelona with bus. I will tell the story about Albaycin soon...

-My friends and I, in the Generalife-

Facts:
Bus = 1.24 EUR per trip
Alhambra ticket = 13 EUR
Fish baguette = 2.40 EUR
Bus ALSA Granada to Barcelona = 68.65 EUR

Well,  I shared some tips about this here. Adios!!!!