What Makes Granada’s Alhambra Palace So Magical?
The history of the Alhambra is connected to the geographical vicinity where found, Granada; on a rocky hill with tough get admission to, at the banks of the Darro River, included by mountains and surrounded through woodland, the various oldest parts of the town, the Alhambra stands like an implementing fort with reddish tones in its ramparts as the outdoor of the sensitive beauty of its interior.
Designed as a army quarter, the Alhambra became the royal residence and the courtyard of Granada, in the midst of XIII, following the established order of the nazarí de reino and the construction of the primary palace, by the founding king Mohammed ibn Yusuf ben Nasr, better called Alhamar.
Throughout the s. XIII, XIV and XV, the fortress has become a castle with high walls and protection towers, which homes primary regions: the army quarter or Alcazaba, the barracks of the royal defend, and the medina or city palace, wherein the famous Nazari palace and the remains of the homes of the nobles and commoners who lived there. The Palace of Charles V (that’s built after the capture of the city in 1492 by the Catholic Kings), is also in the medina.
The monuments additionally has an independent palace in the front of the Alhambra, surrounded via orchards and gardens, which changed into the greatest happiness of the Grenadian kings, Generalife.
The name Alhambra has its origins in an Arabic phrase that means “crimson fortress”, perhaps because of the hue of the towers and partitions that completely surround the hill of La Sabica, which is under the light of silver-colored stars, however underneath the solar takes a golden hue. Although there may be a more poetic clarification, narrated via Muslim chroniclers who communicate of the construction of the Alhambra “beneath the torchlight. Originally created for military purposes, the Alhambra turned into an alcazaba (citadel), a palace (palace) and a small medina (metropolis), all at the same time. This triple man or woman facilitates us recognize the numerous features of this monument.
There is not any reference to the Alhambra as a royal residence till the thirteenth century, even though the fortification existed for the reason that ninth century. The first kings of Granada, the Ziritas, had their castles and palaces within the hills of Albaicin, and there stays best certainly one of them. Zards monarchs have been maximum possibly the emirs who built the Alhambra, from 1238.
The founding father of the dynasty, Muhammed Al-Ahmar, started with the healing of the old castle. His paintings turned into finished by means of his son Muhammed II, whose on the spot successors persevered with the repairs. The palace building (known as Casa Real Vieja) dates again to the 14th century and is the paintings of tremendous kings: Yusuf I and Muhammed V. Muhammed V, finished the embellishment of the palaces with the Lions Hall, in addition to different portions and fortifications.