ALHAMBRA 2

The #32 bus, a tiny electrified box with only 9 seats including the driver's, but at least 20 passengers, bounces up the steep and narrow streets to, almost!, the visitor's center of the Alhambra. We all get out and mill around for a few seconds trying to orient ourselves. Further up the hill at the center, there always seems to be a long line with people in it telling you they've been there at least an hour. On the other hand, if you have a money card with a PIN you can bypass the line and go to the computers and buy your tickets immediately. Why do so many people wait in line? The voices over the intercoms that suggest the machines speak at least four languages, most visitors should understand at least one. It's the lack of the PIN that does it, I think... Or maybe we are all just sheep!

And so, the second and third times around and knowing the trick about the timing for entrance, I was able to visit the palaces...

Last post I left off in the Mexuar Palace, the first that visitors encounter. This shot is a look back at the "Golden Chamber" where it is thought that visitors in the days of the Moors waited in the hopes of an audience with the Sultan.

Being an ignorant fool, I spent a few minutes wishing that it was 1400 and that I was there trying to convince a courtier that my case and I deserved a hearing from the Sultan himself. Being someone who lives in the era of macmansions, I was also surprised at the smallish scale of the palaces.


The Golden Chamber has a beautiful view, of course, but also an incredible ceiling which is mostly original with some Catholic motifs and lots of gold added during later restorations. This type of work is called Mudejar and is a kind of carved wooden mosaic. After Baobdil was defeated, many Moorish craftsmen were allowed to stay and continued to work on Christian buildings. This is one of the reasons southern Spain looks the way it does even today.

Even the drains are beautiful!








On the other side of the courtyard is the "facade" of the next palace, the Comares Palace. I use quotes because this architecture didn't really have facades; it was very plain on the outside and only became sumptuous on the inside. So, you can't really call it showy, I think, since its form and decoration was more for the comprehension and pleasure of the occupants than it was an outward show of wealth or power. Hard to see in these photographs are the many inscriptions in the wall carvings that include poetry and admonishments to good behavior.


This shot is looking up at the beautifully carved eaves of the entrance to the Comares Palace.









Now it is through a few small rooms formerly used by servants but also organized so as to make defense of the inner sanctum easier. Suddenly the light becomes very bright and you come out into the Courtyard of the Myrtles. The reference to myrtles is to the shrubs that run along the length of the huge pool in the center of the courtyard. Rub your fingers on the leaves and you get a lovely smell.

On first entering this courtyard you see the deceptively plain side wall.
Here is a closeup of some of the carving on the walls. (Could it really be stucco? I will have to look this up!)


This shot is of one of the many small alcoves (on the order of 20" high by 15"wide) that are in the doorways. Apparently they were used hold pitchers of water or vases of flowers for the refreshment of visitors on entering.

Some more wall details:












Ok, enough for now. Tomorrow we will go into the Courtyard of the Lions. Sadly, the lions themselves are in the hospital getting nose and toes jobs...









For now, I have to return to the present - which is in Rome!